New Delhi: A total of 202 national highway (NH) projects worth Rs 79,789 crore are at the implementation stage in the country, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

These projects are 6,270 km in length, the minister for road, transport and highways said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

"Besides, another 42 NH projects of length 474 km of Rs 10,992 crore are at the bidding stage, and 11 NH projects of length 245 km of Rs 3,816 crore are at the stage of declaration of Appointed Date in the state of Maharashtra," he said.

These projects have construction periods ranging from 18-30 months from the appointed date, Gadkari said.

In a separate reply, he said the government is closely monitoring the construction of NHs in the country. Periodic reviews are held at various levels to resolve issues and expedite the progress of all NH projects.

A time limit of 2-3 years is generally kept for the completion of new NH projects. However, construction works on NHs sometimes fall behind schedule, due to various reasons like delays in land acquisition, delays in the fulfilment of government's condition precedent like various clearances, utility shifting, delays on the part of contractors/ concessionaire, including cash flow issues, etc.

"Four NH projects passing through Dhenkanal district in Odisha are delayed, mainly due to delay in land acquisition, forest clearance and slow performance of the contractor. As per the revised schedule, the target of completion of these projects is March 2024," he said.

The amount of cost escalation in these projects for the delay in completion work has not been finalised, Gadkari said.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Business, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)