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The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has exceeded its highway construction target for FY26 by completing 5,313 km, about 15 per cent higher than planned. The pace remained slightly lower than last year due to more complex projects. The authority recorded capital expenditure of over INR 2,44,000 crore, going beyond budgetary support and relying partly on internal resources. It also raised over INR 28,000 crore through asset monetisation, reflecting a continued focus on funding diversification alongside steady infrastructure expansion.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has surpassed its highway construction target for FY26, completing 5,313 km of national highways against a target of 4,640 km. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways stated that the achievement is around 15 per cent higher than the planned construction for the year. Advertisement
The total construction, however, is slightly lower than the 5,614 km built in the previous financial year. This reflects a moderation in pace, mainly due to the increasing share of technically complex projects such as access-controlled highways, greenfield expressways, tunnels, and elevated corridors, which require more time for execution.
NHAI's capital expenditure during the year stood at over INR 2,44,362 crore, which is about 2.5 per cent higher than the government's budgetary support of INR 2,38,384 crore. The additional requirement of around INR 5,978 crore was met through internal resources, showing a gradual shift towards self-funding along with government support. This approach has been followed in recent years to reduce dependence on direct budget allocations.
The authority also continued its focus on asset monetisation to support funding needs. It mobilised approximately INR 28,307 crore through models such as Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) and the Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) mechanism. These models allow NHAI to unlock value from operational road assets and reinvest the proceeds into new infrastructure projects.
Under InvIT Round-5, more than 310 km of national highways were monetised for a concession period of 20 years. The response from investors remained strong, with good participation seen in such offerings. Officials indicated that additional bundles under the TOT model and future InvIT rounds are under evaluation, which are expected to support upcoming funding requirements.
The construction pace during the year translates to an average of around 14-15 km per day. While this is lower than peak levels achieved in earlier years, it remains steady considering the nature of current projects. The focus has increasingly shifted towards building high-capacity corridors that improve logistics efficiency and reduce travel time.
Over the past decade, India's national highway network has expanded significantly, increasing from about 91,000 km to more than 1.46 lakh km. This expansion has improved connectivity across key economic regions and supported faster movement of goods and passengers. NHAI continues to play a central role in this growth, with a large pipeline of ongoing and upcoming projects under implementation.
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