Highway projects of Rs two-lakh-Cr outlay to be cleared by December-end : Gadkari

NEW DELHI : The government is likely to approve another set of projects in the pipeline, taking the total cost of projects cleared to Rs two lakh crore by December-end of 2024, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari said.

This follows a series of infrastructure projects, including highway and railway ventures, approved by the Narendra Modi 3.0 government after it assumed office. Last month, the Cabinet approved Rs 51,000 crore worth of projects and another Rs 40,000-50,000 crore projects are under process. In the current financial year, the Ministry is targeting to build 10,421 km of highways. For 2024-25, the capital expenditure target is Rs 2.72 lakh crore, just 2.9 percent higher than achieved in the last financial year.

The Bharatmala project launched in 2017 proposed building highways of the total length of 34,800 km in 31 states and Union Territories covering 550-plus districts. Of the total, 26,425 km have been awarded and 17,411 km constructed. The remaining 8,375 km would now be subsumed in the Vision 2047.

Funds are also being raised through the monetisation route, which include toll-operate-transfer (TOT) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs).