Budget 2023: Allocation for highway construction to be 25 percent higher

Budget 2023: This rise in allocation is in line with the government’s plan to recapitalize NHAI’s balance sheet with higher budgetary support and zero market borrowings.

Yaruqhullah Khan

January 16, 2023 / 16:08 IST

The road transport and highways ministry is likely to complete the construction of 11,000 km of national highways in the current financial year, ending March 31, another senior government official said.

The budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is expected to be around Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2023-2024, about 25 percent higher than the current fiscal, multiple officials told Moneycontrol.

“In order to meet the highway construction target of 25,000 km by the end of FY 2023-2024, the government will have to increase pace of construction by around 30 percent, which will require additional budgetary support,” a senior government official said.

The ministry was allocated Rs 1.99 lakh crore for the current fiscal, and Rs 1.18 lakh crore in the year prior.

ALSO READ: Railway Budget 2023: From Vande Bharat to Bullet train; what to expect from Nirmala Sitharaman

Queries sent to the MoRTH and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) remained unanswered till the time of publishing.

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