Need for speed new priority as Centre trims road target

India plans to more than double the length of high-speed roads in the coming fiscal and target less of two- and four-lane highways, as the focus shifts to offering faster connectivity between key economic centres across the country.

- Subhash Narayan

The Centre plans to complete 3,300km of access-controlled highways in 2025-26 financial year, according to the annual report of ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH).

The cumulative length of such operational corridors, which regulate traffic entering or leaving the highways to offer high-speed driving, is expected to reach 5,800km, up from 2,474km constructed over the last few years until December 2024.

However, the country's overall highway construction is expected to slip further to 10,000km in FY26 from 12,000km targeted in each of the two previous years.

India added 12,349km of highways in FY24, 10,331km in FY23 and 10,457km in FY22.

In FY25 so far, the construction has remained slow at 5,853km up to December and is expected to end with 10,000-10,500km by March.

"The reduction in highway construction targets for FY26 likely reflects a combination of factors," said Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, senior director and global head (transport, mobility and logistics) at Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics.