Elections push highway construction in slow lane despite high capex
NEW DELHI : The nearly three-month-long election process slowed down the construction of highways in the first two months of fiscal year 2024-25 despite the Centre front-loading capital expenditure, showed data from the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH). The highway construction fell by12% to 1,288 kilometres in April-May from 1,465km in the year-ago period, showed the data. Besides, the government awarded only one 4km road project during the two months, compared to road projects of 382 km a year ago “due to the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct", the road ministry said in an office memorandum on Friday.
The restrictions came into effect on 16 March for the seven-phase general elections held from 19 April to 1 June. The results were announced on 4 June. The ministry incurred a capex of ₹57,925 crore—42.55% of the total outlay of ₹1.36 trillion approved by parliament for the first five months of 2024-25 to keep the government running during the elections.
The interim budget 2024-25 had allocated ₹2.72 trillion for the highway ministry for the whole fiscal year. And in terms of annual allocation, the government has already spent 21.3% of the budget estimates compared to 20.83% in the year-ago period. “This year we are moving even more quickly towards the allocation of budgetary capex funds for infrastructure development.
About half of the vote on account capital outlay has been used in just two months and full sanctioned amount may be used much before the five-month period," said an MoRTH official on the condition of anonymity. This would ensure that highway construction picks up pace after the monsoon season, the official added. The ministry hasn’t finalized highway construction targets for the fiscal
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