The number of National Highway projects delayed by more than three years has fallen significantly, from 152 on 1 April 2024 to 85 on 30 November 2025, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Reasons Behind Project Delays
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on 3 December, Minister Nitin Gadkari explained that delays are mainly caused by challenges in land acquisition, statutory clearances, utility shifting, removal of encroachments, and law and order issues. Additional factors include financial constraints faced by contractors or concessionaires, poor performance, and force majeure events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and cloudbursts.
Government Measures to Expedite Execution
To address these hurdles, the government has launched multiple initiatives. These include streamlining land acquisition via the “Bhoomirashi” portal and GIS-based Land Acquisition Plan, revamping the “Parivesh” portal to speed up forest and environmental clearances, enabling online approvals for Road Over Bridge (ROB) and Road Under Bridge (RUB) drawings from the Railways, and actively resolving bottlenecks in collaboration with state governments and other stakeholders.
Monitoring and Coordination Framework
A strong monitoring framework has been established to track project progress and contractor performance. Regular review meetings at various levels involve all stakeholders, with a focus on projects delayed over three years or awaiting award/appointment. State governments also hold coordination meetings led by the Chief Secretary to address execution challenges.
Escalation Mechanisms for Unresolved Issues
Projects with unresolved issues are escalated for further review through the Project Monitoring Group and the “PRAGATI” platform.
Results of the Initiatives
Thanks to these measures, the number of projects delayed by over three years has dropped from 152 as of April 2024 to 85 by November 2025.
