New Delhi: The pace of national highway (NH) construction in the country has slowed to 20.99 kilometres a day during the first nine-month of the current financial year, according to official data.The pace of the construction of national highway (NH) in the country had touched a record high of 37 kilometres a day in 2020-21. "However, the pace came down to 28.64 kms per day in 2021-22 due to Covid-19 pandemic-related disruptions and a longer-than-usual monsoon in some parts of the country," said the ministry.
"The ministry has constructed 5,774 kms of National Highways up to December in 2022-23 as compared to 5,835 km constructed up to December 2021-22," said the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in its monthly summary for the Cabinet for December 2022.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways in India. "The official target of highway construction has been kept at 12,000 kilometres for the current financial year," it said.
The ministry said that it had constructed 10,237 kilometres in 2019-20, 13,327 kilometres in 2020-21 and 10,457 kilometres in 2021-22.
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