MoRTH Built About 18 Km Of National Highways Per Day Till December, Meeting Half Of FY26 Target

The pace of national highway construction dropped from 6,216 km in FY24 to 4,938 km in FY26 during the April–December period—translating to around 23 km per day on average to 18 km daily in the first nine months of the financial year. In FY25, highway construction during the April-December period stood at 5,853 km, already marking a slowdown from FY24 levels.

The Economic Survey 2025-26, released on Thursday, said that for FY26, 10,000 km of national highway construction is targeted, “of which 4,938 km have been completed as of December 31, 2025”.

The analysis of the data shows that this is the first time in at least a decade that the ministry has built less than 5,000 km during the April-December period. India built 7,203 km (26 km/day) in 2020-21

during the first three quarters, a record to date.

Speaking to News18, a ministry official said the prolonged rainy season this time impacted road building.

“Road construction is punctuated by seasonality. So, for almost three to four months during monsoon, there is hardly any progress, particularly in northern India,” the official said, demanding anonymity.

They assured that the execution rate will improve significantly in the last quarter.

The pace of highway construction in the country touched a record of 37 km per day in 2020-21, as the total national highway construction that year stood at a massive 12,327 km during the April-March cycle. In 2023-24, the second-highest, 12,349 kilometres of national highway, was built by the ministry across India.

As per the Economic Survey, the national highway network expanded from 91,287 km in FY14 to 1,46,572 km by December 2025, a 60% increase. In the 2024-25 report, the government had said that India’s total road network is 63.4 lakh km, including the national highway network of 1,46,195 km.

The survey said that road transport and highways, along with railways, continued to account for over half of total capital expenditure in India. At Rs 2.85 lakh crore, roads and highways continue to command one of the largest shares of Union capital expenditure in FY25, up from Rs 2.64 lakh crore in FY24. MoRTH’s total expenditure for 2025-26 is estimated at Rs 2,87,333 crore, only 2.4 per cent higher than the revised estimate for 2024-25.