Road projects worth Rs 7.89 lakh crore underway; steps taken to overcome pandemic-induced delays: Nitin Gadkari

Highway projects worth Rs 7.89 lakh crore are under construction across the country and a number of steps have been taken to expedite work that was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic, Parliament was informed on Monday. These 2,084 projects pertain to construction of 63,523 km of national highways in the country.

"Two thousand eighty four projects on National Highways are under construction in the country as on date. ... Projects are given a time period of 2 to 3 years for completion from the date of commencement," Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Minister Nitin Gadkari said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

The cost of these projects for construction of 63,523 km of highways is Rs 7.89 lakh crore, he said.


Stating that delay in projects has been noticed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minister said that the government took "proactive action to initiate an imperative relief under Aatmnirbhar Bharat for Contractors / Concessionaires /Developers of Road Sectors whereby inter-alia extension of time for 03 months to up to 06 months without penalty...".

Cash flow was eased to ensure completion of projects with least possible delay, he added.