National highways length rises by 50 per cent in 7 years: Govt sources

A day ahead of the inauguration of the Bundelkhand Expressway by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, government sources on Friday said the length of national highways has risen by more than 50 per cent in over seven years. While the total length of national highways was 91,287 km in April 2014, it was around 1,41,000 km by the end of 2021. The BJP government came to power at the Centre in May 2014.

The pace of construction of the national highways has increased from 12 km per day to 37 km per day in 2020-21, sources said.

They said the Modi government has focused greatly on connectivity and infrastructure since the beginning of its term.

This focus on connectivity can be gauged from the budgetary allocation of Rs 1.99 lakh crore to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in the 2022-23 budget.

This is the highest ever, they said, noting that it marks a multifold jump compared to the allocation of about Rs 30,300 crore in 2013-14.

Modi will visit Uttar Pradesh on Saturday and inaugurate the Bundelkhand Expressway — a 296-km four-lane expressway that has been constructed at a cost of around Rs 14,850 crore.

The work on the expressway has been completed within 28 months.