Crisil: The construction of the national road should be about 32 to 34 km/day during this exercise: Crisil

Construction of India’s New Delhi national highway is likely to reach only 32-34 km per day in the current fiscal year as input prices are expected to remain high, the agency said on Monday. rating. The rating agency further said that it expects the pace of highway construction to pick up after the monsoon.

Construction of India’s national highway slowed to 28.64 km per day in 2021-22, due to disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a longer than usual monsoon in parts of the country .

The rate of construction of National Highways (NH) in the country had reached a record 37 km per day in 2020-21.

Crisil said national highway projects saw a downturn in the first quarter of this fiscal year, with the award by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), including the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), down 42% year-on-year at 969 km.

Construction also slowed, down 14% year on year to 1,966 km, or 22 km per day, as a spike in input prices led developers to delay the supply of materials, he added. .

According to the report, in this context, the allocation should increase significantly over the next nine months to meet the ministry’s ambitious goal of building 50 km per day.

The outlook, however, remains positive, he said, adding that the project’s allocation peaked at 12,731 km last year.

This fiscal, Crisil said he estimates the ministry will allocate 12,000-13,000 km of national highway projects, largely under Bharatmala, with adoption boosted by developer-friendly measures under Atmanirbhar Bharat that have been extended until October 2022.