Construction, award of highway projects at 7-year low in 2025-26 | India News
New Delhi: Awards for highway construction and new works in 2025-26 have fallen to a seven-year low, official data shows. While the overall construction was less than 10,000 km, only 7,000 km was commissioned in FY26, the first since 2019-20.Reasons for declining performance in these two key parameters in the highway sector include strict pre-conditions for land availability and clearance before bidding for projects and sharp decline in conversion of state highways to National Highways (NHs).Officials said the agencies have maintained “self-restraint” to ensure that projects once bid are not stalled or delayed due to unavailability of land and other issues such as forest and environment clearances and shifting of utilities.“Project delays do not serve any purpose; rather, they increase costs. A lot of efforts have been made to reduce the number of delayed projects. Secondly, the focus is on building more economic corridors and expressways instead of incremental expansion of existing highways,” an official said.The National Highways Corporation of India (NHAI), which is responsible for the construction and maintenance of a wide range of highways, said last week that the agency has constructed 5,313 km of NH, about 15% more than the target of 4,640 km for the year.Industry insiders said the number of NH development projects awarded by NHAI and other agencies has dropped significantly, with contractors scrambling to get work, quoting 42% less than the bid price. “The impact of fewer projects being bid out will be visible in the next few years,” said a senior executive at a major highway developer.
