Highway construction has sped up, not slowed down, in election season, officials say

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₹2,72,241 crore of the capex allocated to the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) in the budget has been spent. In the previous fiscal year, this level of spending was achieved only by the end of May. In FY24, the total capex outlay for MoRTH stood at ₹2,58,606 crore and actual expenditure at the end of May stood at ₹59,078 crore, or just over 22% of the outlay.

An official at the ministry, who did not wish to be named, said, “This year we are moving even more quickly to allocate capex for infrastructure development. Spending plans by road-development agencies were sought from the very first day of the new fiscal year and and disbursal also started from 1 April. This momentum will be maintained in the first quarter of FY25, before the monsoon slows down construction activity." The plan, this official added, is to spent almost 40% of budgeted funds by the end of the June quarter, which would be a record for the ministry.

The move will help the new government in June to better plan infrastructure development over the rest of the fiscal year, the official said. Also read: RBI's new rules have road ministry worried for its grand highway plans According to MoRTH data, it built 483 km of national highways in April FY25, compared to 523 km in April FY24. However, actual expenditure was ₹54,545 crore in the first month of the fiscal, or 20.04% of the budgeted capex of ₹2,72,241 crore ( ₹2.72 trillion).

In FY24, the ministry had spent about half that amount by this point. “[Contrary to] the wider perception that elections slow the pace of road construction, this year we will see more projects completed in Q1. The model code of conduct is in force until a government is formed, and this time is being used to finalise