The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is advancing a corridor-based strategy for highway development, focusing on consistent standards, user convenience, and logistics efficiency. Leveraging GSTN and toll data, a 50,000-km high-speed highway corridor network has been identified as critical to India’s goal of becoming a $30 trillion economy by 2047.
By FY25, MoRTH targets 4,827 km of operational high-speed corridors, with landmark projects like the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, and Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway nearing completion. In the first eight months of FY25, 4,900 km of highways were constructed, while the government aims to build 10,400 km this fiscal year, with NHAI tasked to complete 5,000 km.
Asset monetisation initiatives reduced NHAI’s debt from ₹3.3 trillion to ₹2.76 trillion in FY24, supported by Rs 40,000 crore in earnings. Toll collections surged to over ₹70,000 crore in 2024, with October recording an all-time high of ₹6,115 crore due to increased festive travel.
While road construction companies face short-term pressures, diversification into non-road sectors like solar energy and water supply, combined with robust order books, drives optimism. MoRTH plans to award 12,900 km of highway projects in FY25, a 50% increase year-on-year, alongside innovations like satellite navigation-based toll systems, setting the stage for transformative growth in highway infrastructure.
