A month-wise action plan will be created for connectivity projects yet to be awarded, with a focus on maximising awards by the end of December 2022 and March 2023. This was decided at a meeting held earlier this month to review the progress of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, according to an order from the Road Transport and Highways Ministry.
The National Highways Authority of India, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corp and the Border Roads Organisation are responsible for implementing these projects, numbering 235, against demands raised by the ministries of steel, fertilizers, ports, shipping & waterways and defence.
The status of these road projects would be tracked on a monthly basis.
As many as 168 roads are identified for building for the defence ministry. The Ports, shipping and waterways ministry comes next with 61 projects, while steel has five and fertiliser has one. It has also been decided that geo-tagged data of automated testing stations and registered vehicle scrapping facilities will be uploaded on the PM Gati Shakti NMP Portal. Mapping of potential sites for these facilities will also be added to it. A slowdown in the pace of road construction this year has prompted the Centre to undertake a review to identify the shortcomings and hasten implementation of national highway projects. According to data, 4,060 km of highways were constructed in the current financial year till October. This is 10.7% lower than the 4,550 km built during the same months of FY22.
