Bumpy Ride for NH Projects in FY24: 667 Delayed Across India; Maharashtra, Karnataka Lagging

As many as 667 national highway projects across India have been delayed, with Maharashtra topping the chart. The state has more than 100 delayed projects, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in a reply, also said the cost escalation due to delay, if any, is known only on actual completion of projects and final settlement of bills.

“As on November 30, the construction phase of 667 projects have spilled beyond their original completion schedule, without having attained any of the various stages of project completion,” the ministry said.

This number is an improvement from last year’s status. As of December 2022, 719 projects were delayed.

Maharashtra & Karnataka Lagging

With 108 delayed projects, Maharashtra tops the chart for having the most delayed national highway projects. Next in line is Karnataka at 37.

Other states with higher pendency were: Tamil Nadu (33), Andhra Pradesh (32), Bihar (31) and Gujarat (31). Collectively, 34 projects of national highway were pending across the union territories.

The Reasons Behind Delays

Large infrastructure projects were delayed due to a number of reasons, including the pandemic.

The ministry had earlier said the projects are delayed to some extent due to protracted monsoon in many states, above average rainfall in some states, increase in price of raw materials, bottlenecks relating to land acquisition, statutory clearances and permissions, utility shifting, encroachment removal, law and order, non-availability of soil/aggregate, financial crunch of Concessionaire, poor performance of Contractor/Concessionaire.

Slow Pace of NH Building Projects

Last month, News18 reported that the ministry is falling behind its target of building 37 km of national highway per day on an average. Against the target, they managed to build around 21 km per day up to October.

While it is an improvement from last year’s number, it is below the first quarter figures. In the April-June quarter, MoRTH was building about 25 km of national highways per day on average.