Highway network will increase by 27 thousand km after completion of stranded projects, 878 projects are victims of delay

If the existing stalled road construction projects are completed, then the country's highway network will increase by 27,326 km. Completion of these projects will also mean that more than three lakh crore rupees will be put to good use.Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over the pending infrastructure projects and said that delay in these not only increases the cost of the projects, but also delays the people in getting their benefits. Some similar concerns have been expressed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture in its report presented in the Parliament.

The Committee also expected the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to review the monitoring mechanism of road projects and put in place a concrete mechanism to track the projects at each stage. If delays in projects are detected at an early stage, then many projects can be saved from being pending for years.

According to the Ministry of Road Transport, all the long delayed projects have been completed in the last seven years. Still, 878 ongoing projects are currently delayed, with a total length of 27,326 km and Rs 3,11,810 crore stuck in them. It is a matter of relief that in these 478 projects (13,013 km) have almost been completed. Progress has been made up to 99 percent and they can be operated any time this year. To reduce the burden of pending projects, the Ministry has also terminated 20 projects. Efforts are on to expedite work on the remaining 380 pending projects (13,976 km).