Economic Survey 2023: Highway construction remains subdued for second straight year

So far, NHAI InvIT has raised more than Rs 10,200 crore from foreign and Indian institutional investors up to December 2022, the Economic Survey 2023 said. (Representative image)

The pace of highway construction in India in 2022-23 has fallen when compared to 2021-22, said the Economic Survey for 2022-23 tabled in Parliament on January 31.

During April-October of 2022-23, 4,060 km of national highways were constructed which was nine percent lower than the national highways that were constructed in 2021-22, the survey said.

The average pace of highway construction in India fell to 18.97 km/day in 2022-23, which is slightly lower than the average of 20.89 km/day seen last year and much lower than the average of 36.5 km per day that was reached in the lockdown hit 2020-21.

In 2020-21, 13,327 km of national highways were constructed which fell to 10,457 km in 2021-22, the economic survey pointed out, bringing to the fore the diminishing pace of highway construction for the last two years.

Also Read: Budget 2023: Centre's pro-growth approach likely to build on infra development

There has been a fall in highway construction despite a rise in capital expenditure by the central government in the segment. The Centre's capital expenditure in April-November 2022-23 rose to Rs 1.49 lakh crore from Rs 0.74 lakh crore in the corresponding period last year, according to the economic survey.

Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman on January 31 tabled the Economic Survey 2022-2023 in the Parliament, which reviews how the economy performed in this fiscal year and the road ahead for the next year.

The survey also tracks the performance of asset monetisation in the road sector.

So far, NHAI InvIT has raised more than Rs 10,200 crore from foreign and Indian institutional investors up to December 2022, the Economic Survey said.

NHAI InvIT is the infrastructure investment trust sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to support the government’s National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).

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

The survey added that the road infrastructure in the form of a network of national highways, state highways, district roads, rural roads, and urban roads acts as a major mode of transportation and connectivity for the country’s diverse population of consumers and businesses.

Roads supplement the other modes of transport through last-mile connectivity to the far-flung regions of the country, the survey said.

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