The construction of National Highways (NH) annually rose by 30.2% to 13,327 km in 2020-2021 from 10,237 km in the previous year, according to the Economic Survey.
However, in the first six months of the current fiscal, only 3,824 km of road network could be readied. This translates into 20.8 km of roads constructed a day, much lower than the daily average witnessed in the previous fiscal.
In 2020-2021, the average per day construction of roads was at 36.5 km as compared to 28 km a day in 2019-2020.
Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari informed Parliament during the winter session last year that the government had set a target of constructing 12,000 km of national highways for 2021-2022. The original target, however, was to build 14,600 km highways during this period.
