Road projects: NHAI awards in the slow lane, but road ahead looks better

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) awarded only 777 km of road projects in the first half of this fiscal — the lowest in three fiscals, and down 60% from last fiscal — amid tardy execution and a rise in the prices of input materials.

HAM projects accounted for ~51% of the awards, while the rest were under the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode.

However, this fiscal so far, the NHAI has floated tenders for ~3,413 km of projects, or ~22% more than in the same period last fiscal.