No more fixed highway targets, states can prioritise projects
Under this, the ministry is expected to offer multiple projects passing through each identified state and leave it to states to prioritise work on these projects unlike the existing practice where states have to work on the project assigned by the Centre.
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The focus, instead, will be on ensuring timely completion of projects and hence the idea of floating targets based on the progress of land acquisition and other regulatory approvals, a senior government official told ET.
"The idea is to get projects off the ground to avoid delays that often result in huge time and cost overrun," the official added.
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This is expected to give enough flexibility to states to pick up projects which can be quickly started since the majority of the basic requirements are in place.
"It is a win-win for both Centre as well as states. There will be a bouquet of roads offered to states for development and states will be allowed to proceed with projects where they see some progress," an industry expert said, adding this will help fast-track completion of pending projects also.
While construction of national highways is primarily the responsibility of the ministry of road transport and highway, which works through its autonomous body the National Highways Authority of India, states assist the central government with land acquisition, rehabilitation of project-affected people and obtaining various clearances.
The government has set the target of constructing 10,000 km of highways in 2025-26, lower than the 10,421 km target set for 2024-25. Even the monetisation target for the current financial year has been scaled down to ₹30,000 crore compared to the target of ₹39,000 crore set for the preceding year.
Besides, the ministry of road transport and highways allocates funds for state governments and union territories (UTs) for development and maintenance of state roads under the Central Road & Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) scheme. The ministry has allocated ₹9,030 crore under the scheme in 2024-25.
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