Union Minister Nitin Gadkari sets target to construct 60 km of highway per day

Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari sets a target of constructing 60 kms of highway per day in India, reports PTI.

Image for representation

India's national highway construction slowed to 28.64 km a day in 2021-22 due to Covid-19 pandemic related disruptions and a longer-than-usual monsoon in some parts of the country. However, Union Road, Transport, and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on June 6 said his target is to construct 60 kilometres of highway per day. 

“Taking monumental efforts towards boosting last mile connectivity, the pace of building highways has tripled from 12 Km per day in 2013 to 37 km per day in 2021,” read Gadkari’s tweet. 

Taking monumental efforts towards boosting last mile connectivity, the pace of building highways has tripled from 12 Km per day in 2013 to 37 km per day in 2021.#8YearsOfInfraGati pic.twitter.com/SdV2k6SlkY

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) June 6, 2022

"My ministry and my team is working hard, and even during Covid-19 pandemic time, our (highway) construction rate was 38 km per day and my ambition is to take it up to 60 km per day, it is a target," Gadkari said at an event.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways across the country. The minister also said that logistics cost is a problem in India. 

(With inputs from PTI)