Has the pandemic impacted the highway construction of the government during the current financial year?

The surprising reality is that despite the huge impact of the pandemic, the highway construction activity has maintained its momentum and even done better than last year. Just look at the numbers that have just been put out by Nitin Gadkari. The government confirmed that it had completed 8,169 KM of national highways since Apr-20.

That means, it is all set to surpass the full year target of 11,000 KM of highways that it has set for itself. Till the end of December, the highway construction was 8% higher than last year same period, despite the pressure of the pandemic and the lockdown. That translates into approximately 28.16 KM per day of highways which is way above past averages.

Highway construction activity is extremely critical because it has strong externalities. Among the various factors, it has the strongest multiplier effect on economic growth. It must also be noted that the higher levels of highway construction were achieved despite the fact that April and May 2020 months were lost due to the lockdown.

In fact, post lockdown were the monsoon months which are normally a lean period for highway construction activity. Despite all these apparent constraints, the highway activity has picked up sharply. The pace is expected to increase further by March. This is essential if India has to really reap the full benefits of Atma Nirbhar Bharat and position India as a manufacturing and export hub to the world.