The National Highways Authority of India constructed 5614 km of highways in the just concluded financial year 2024-25, which was 9% more than the target but fell short of its monetisation target by a big margin.
The highway construction was however lower than 6,644 km built in 2023-24. The pace of highway construction and award was lower in 2024-25 due to the long drawn election process which held back clearances due to the model code of conduct. Overall road construction target for FT 25 was 10,421 km. In the next financial year the government is targeting 10,000 km of road building.
The monetisation target for the 2014-25 was around Rs 39,000 crore but the highway builder could collect only Rs 28,724 crore. The shortfall is due to the directive from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to keep monetisation through Toll Operate Transfer (ToT) on hold pending a review.
The NHAI has received bids for two ToT bundles during the financial year which it did not open and awarded those highways following the MoRTH’s directions. MoRTH sees better realisation through monetisation by Infrastructure Investment Trust route and has asked NHAI for its view before firming up its stance.
In 2024-25 NHAI concluded the fourth round of monetisation through National Highways Infrastructure Trust (NHIT) raising RS 17738 crore, the highest ever. By monetising one highway bundle through ToT, Rs 6.661 crore was raised. The remaining Rs 4,325 crore came through project-based financing. Project based financing involves raising debt for the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway stretches. The debt is serviced through the toll receipts from those stretches.
The monetisation is emerging as an important avenue of resource mobilisation for highway construction. In the 2025-26 the monetisation target if rs 30,000 crore which will cover 10% of total budgetary resources.
The Capital Expenditure by NHAI in 2024-25 for development of national highway infrastructure touched an all-time high of over Rs. 2,50,000 Crore (provisional) against a target of Rs. 2,40,000 Crore. This highest ever capital expenditure in a Financial Year by NHAI includes both Government budgetary support and NHAI’s own resources.
The overall capital expenditure increased by around 21% as compared to Rs. 2,07,000 Crore in previous FY 2023-24 and by around 45% as compared to Rs. 1,73,000 Crore in FY 2022-23.