While the Ministry of Road Transport and Motorway (Morth) set a total building target of 10,000 to 10,500 km per year, almost 30%-or about 3,000 km-bude dedicated to strengthening existing roads than to add fresh highway capacity.
This means a sharp shift since the last years when expansion took precedence. Last time there were projects for capacity that were low, in FY18, when the total construction also dropped below 10,000 km.
“The reduced proportion of projects in the production of capacities is likely to continue in FY26, with the overall target for the construction of the motorway will remain closer to the level of FY25,” one of the previously cited people said.
However, this should not be considered to slow down the construction of highways, but a shift in priorities, because the government is conducting more complex projects such as highway with higher lanes and access highways, the person stressed.
The question sent to Morth remained unanswered until the press.
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Highway projects fall into two wide categories: capacity enlargement that adds new roads or lanes, and strengthening projects that rehabilitate and upgrade existing roads without capacity expansion. While both increase the quality of infrastructure, capacity enlargement is a stronger network growth indicator.
Morth data shows that from 12,349 km of motorways built in FY24, 2,708 km consisted of strengthening projects, while 5 193 km included a complex, high -strip highway. Despite this, the FY24 recorded a record 9,500 km of the new highway capacity-the best level even compared to the post-pandemic design boom in FY21, when the total construction of the motorway reached 13,327 km.
According to government data, the projects of highway strengthening have been fluctuating over the years – from 862 km in FY20 to the summit of 4 907 km in FY21, before they decreased to 2,152 km in FY23 and again rose to 2,708 km in FY24. Meanwhile, the total construction of motorways remained from FY19 between 10,000 and 12,000 km.
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This trend is underlined by the evolving approach of the government: the balance of new motorways with maintenance and modernization.
Experts in the field say that the choice between expansion and strengthening largely depends on the demand with transport.
“If the operation is relatively low, then strengthening work, but if the traffic levels are high, but the expansion/lane enlargement may be required. However, road users in both cases have a tangible and almost similar advantage,” Kuljit Singh, partner and leader, infrastructure, EY India said.
Government officials expect the total construction of motorways in the next decade to become about 12,000 km before decreasing as soon as the main network expansion is completed. Until then, the focus is likely to move to long -term maintenance rather than the extensive new construction of roads.
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According to its plan Vision 2047, Morth focuses on the position of 50,000 km of access motorways, especially 4 to 8 strip highways. Although it will increase a total of miles of lanes, the annual addition of linear kilometers-shake scale of network expansion-will be slow compared to the postpandemic peak 10 000+ km per year.
Since January, 7,000 km of motorways were built, slightly in 7,658 km completed in the same period last year.
(Tagstotranslate) India construction of motorways FY25
