National Highway projects totalling 43,856 kms are under construction phase in the country, Parliament was updated about it on Thursday. The costs of construction of these national highways are over ₹9,60,103 crore, confirmed by Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said in the Lok Sabha.
As per the data shared by the minister, as of October 31, the total length of national highways in the country is about 1,46,145 km, compared to 91,287 km as of March 31, 2014.
The total counting of under-construction national highway projects is 1,609. These projects are in line across different states and UTs, Gadkari said.
The government has taken various steps to make sure the timely completion of projects like awarding projects after proper preparation in terms of land acquisition and pre-construction activities, streamlining the land acquisition notification process, making easier the process for approval of GAD (General Arrangement Drawing) by railways, among others.
On the delay in national highway projects, he said as of November 30, 2023, the construction stage of 667 projects has spilled beyond their original completion schedule without having done any of the various phases of project completion.
The upgradation work of highways is also under construction in a few parts of the country.
At the wayside amenities, including electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities, have also been installed across national highways in India.
