To Recover From a Three-year Slowdown Centre Targets Awarding 10,000 Km Of National Highway Projects In FY 2026
To Recover From a Three-year Slowdown Centre Targets Awarding 10,000 Km Of National Highway Projects In FY 2026
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways(MoRTH) aims to recover from a three-year slowdown, with project awards and construction both expected to accelerate this fiscal.
The Centre is preparing to award 10,000 kilometres of National Highway (NH) projects by the end of financial year 2026, signalling a strong push to revive momentum after awards fell sharply over the past few years. According to Road Transport and Highways Secretary V. Umashankar, the Ministry expects fresh approvals this financial year to climb back to 10,000 km — a significant rise from 7,500 km in FY 2024 and 6,000 km in FY 2025, following a peak of 12,000 km in FY 2023.
Officials are confident that at least 9,000 km of the 10,000-km target will be awarded. The temporary slowdown, they said, stemmed from the government’s deliberate shift in focus toward clearing older sanctioned projects that had not yet been awarded. Of the 4,500 km of pending projects from previous years, 3,500 km have now been cleared and allotted.
On construction progress, the Ministry remains optimistic about achieving its 10,000-km completion target for the year. As of October 2025, 3,200 km of highways have been completed, compared with 3,700 km during the same period last year. Officials attributed part of the shortfall to delayed monsoons but maintained that overall performance remains on track.
The backlog of delayed projects has also been steadily narrowing. Until April 2024, there were 154 delayed projects; this number has now fallen to below 100 and is expected to drop to around 60 by the end of the current fiscal year.
To speed up future execution, the Ministry has introduced reforms to reduce the gap between project approval and commissioning. A major change includes requiring 90% land acquisition before awarding projects under the BOT and HAM models — aligning them with EPC norms. This is expected to reduce the approval-to-acquisition timeline by nearly a year, making project delivery more efficient.
Responding to concerns about the impact of pending projects on next year’s capital expenditure, the Ministry indicated confidence that spending will stay robust as the pace of awarding and construction improves.
Last year, 5,614 km of highways were constructed — exceeding the target of 5,150 km. Capital expenditure by NHAI reached an all-time high of over ₹2.5 lakh crore in FY 2024–25. In the Union Budget 2025–26, MoRTH received a total outlay of ₹2,87,333 crore, with nearly ₹2.72 lakh crore earmarked as capex for national highway development.
