(This story originally appeared in on Dec 25, 2017)

The pace of national highway construction during April-November this year increased by 23% over the same period last year. Officials said they were confident of crossing 9,000 km this fiscal to register the highest ever construction of highways, though it will be way less than the ambitious target set by the highways minister at 40 km per day.Last year, 8,231 km of highways were constructed, which is the highest in a single fiscal so far.According to data compiled by the road transport and highways ministry, construction and widening of 4,942 km was completed by November 30, which is about 20.5 km a day. During the same period in the last financial year, construction stood at 4,017 km and the average daily construction was 16.7 km.“December to March are the most favourable months for road construction across the country. Usually, construction achieved during these months is equivalent to the total building of roads in the first eight months of any financial year.“We are holding regular reviews and progress is monitored keenly for faster completion of stretches under construction,” a ministry official said.While increased pace of construction is a positive indicator, the highways ministry is concerned over the fall in award of projects during the first four months of this financial year. Between April and November, work for only 2,927 km was awarded, which is about half of the stretches awarded during the same period in 2016-17.Ministry officials said NHAI , which has been slow in awarding contracts this year, has floated a large number of tenders and has assured the government that it will meet the target of awarding works for 10,000 km by the end of March.