Highways ministry sets record with construction of 534 km road in one week
21 Jan 2021
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Ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has created a record by constructing 534 km of National Highways (NHs) in the last week commencing 8 January, ie, an average of more than 76 km pr day.
The ministry has constructed 8,169 km of national highways so far in the current financial (between 15 April 2020 and 15 January 2021), recording construction of an average 28.16 km of highways. During the same period in the last fiscal, 7,573 km roads were constructed, with a speed of 26.11 km per day.
The Ministry is hopeful that with such pace it should be able to cross construction target of 11,000 km by 31 March.
The ministry also awarded NH projects of 7,597 km during this period (April 2020 to 15 January 2021). In 2019-20, projects of 3,474 km were awarded during the same period. Thus, the pace of award has also more than doubled this fiscal.
In total, projects of 8,948 km of roads were awarded in 2019-20 while 10,237 km of roads were constructed.
The achievement assumes significance given the fact that the first two months of the current fiscal were lost due to nationwide lockdown in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry said the pace of construction is expected to increase further in the remaining months of the current financial year, which are conducive for construction activities.
