The total length of national highways (NHs) in the country has increased from about 91,287 km in April 2014 to about 1,40,937 km till the end of November this year, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

       Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that during 2014-15 to the end of November 2021, projects for about 82,058 km have been awarded.

       Completion has been achieved in about 68,068 km length of roads, Gadkari added.

       The minister said 49 projects in about 4,970 km costing about Rs 1,13,000 crore are in various stages of progress and are targeted for completion by 2023-24.

       Gadkari added that the ministry has also initiated the conceptualisation of additional 27 greenfield (fresh) expressways/ access-controlled highways for a total investment of about Rs 3.6 lakh crore.

       He said out of 1,100 km projects, identified under the National Highway Interconnectivity Improvement Programme (NHIIP) under the World Bank Loan Assistance, about 990 km has been completed with a total expenditure of about Rs 5,565 crore.

       Replying to a separate question, Gadkari said that as on December 11 this year, about 96-97 per cent of the total user fee is collected through FASTag.

       He added that the user fee collection at fee plazas of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in 2020-21 stood at Rs 27,744.15 crore.

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