National highway construction unimpacted by pandemic: Crisil

Construction of National highways in the country hit a three-year high in FY 21, and the momentum continues in FY 22 despite a ravaging second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, market research agency Crisil NSE 4.48 % said on Thursday.

“The covid-19 pandemic however disastrous to the overall Indian economy failed to hamper the growth of national highways construction in the country, which have seen significant increase in activity in in the last fiscal year,” Crisil said in a statement.

The number of national highway projects that were awarded by the ministry of road transport and highways saw an increase of 123% with a total of 1,658 kms added in the first quarter of the FY21 despite a nation-wide lockdown in the initial months to contain the pandemic.

The first quarter of FY 22, however, saw a miniscule increase of 1.4% over the previous year, with a total of 1681 kms being added.

The overall National highway awards rose by 22.5% to a total of 10,965 kms for the fiscal year 2021, a three-year high.

“The increased construction is expected to continue in the coming quarters due to the many projects under Bharatmala and developer-friendly measures recently taken up by MoRTH,” Crisil said.

With the withdrawal of monsoon, the pace of construction is expected to be significantly ramped up in the coming months, it added.

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Credit: Economic Times