How much does it cost to build a 1 kilometer highway, where else does the money go except construction material, it is increasing continuously

New Delhi. About 25 kilometers of highways are being constructed every day in the country. At present, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) aims to construct 40 km of highways every day. There is a possibility of increasing it further to 50 kilometers per day. Have you ever wondered how much the government or the company that has taken the contract to build that road would have to spend on building 1 km of highway. If not, then we tell. At present, Rs 30 crore is spent to build a road per kilometer. Apart from construction material and labor cost, it also includes the cost of acquisition.

Till a few years ago, it was Rs 25 crores, but with rising inflation, the prices of land and goods also increased. According to a news, from 2020 to 2021, the price of construction material like bitumen increased by 50-60 percent. Similarly, there was an increase of 30-40 percent in the price of steel and 10-15 percent in the price of cement.

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8000 kms in 11 months
According to the data of the Ministry of Road and Transport, from April last year to the end of February this year, 8045 km of highways were constructed. This means that a little over 24 km of highway was built every day. NHI had set a record in 2020-21 for preparing 37 km of highways in a day. A total of 13, 327 km of highways were constructed in 2020-21. After this it came down to 10,457 km in 2021-22. Only 10,237 km of highways were constructed in 2019-20.

40% project delayed
According to the statement given by the government in the Rajya Sabha, at present 40 percent of its road projects are running behind schedule. Till February 2023, work is going on on a total of 1801 projects. Of these, 725 road projects are running late. The government has attributed this to monsoon, more than normal rainfall, Kovid-19 pandemic, rise in prices of other raw materials including steel. Apart from this, due to problems in land acquisition and legal tussles in many places, road construction is also getting delayed. The government also told that if the delay is due to the fault of the contractor, then the increased prices are not paid and the loss is also compensated.

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Tags: National Highways Authority of India, NHAI, roads, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari