New Delhi :: 580 National Highways (NH) projects costing a total cost of about Rs 3.9 lakh crore are being delayed and another 200 projects worth Rs 1.6 lakh crore are not yet closed after the bidding.Sources said that delay in land acquisition, issues related to contractors and pending statutory approval have been identified as the main reasons, which conduct these projects.However, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has been able to reduce the number of projects, which have been delayed by more than three years in the last one-and-a-half years-April 2024 to 152 to July 2025-through more attention to regular monitoring to resolve pending issues. Officials said that even the number of all delayed projects has been reduced by about 16% in the first four months of the current financial year due to strict and regular monitoring.“The goal is to significantly reduce the number of delayed projects as they deprive people of the cost and desired benefits,” said an official.TOI has learned that there is a monthly meeting of all highway construction agencies to accelerate the project execution. Among the major factors affecting projects, land acquisition is the major one (28%case), followed by issues related to contractors (19%) and forest approval (13%). Officials said that there is special emphasis on completing the projects where small works are pending to significantly reduce the overall number of projects delayed.The total number of data shows while the total number of NH projects was 690 in April 2024, it increased to 686 in April 2025 and around 580 by the end of July. More than 50% of the projects are delayed by six months, while more than a third is delayed by 1-3 years.Officials said that factors delaying project execution also affect new tasks. For example, highway agencies have yet to bid 276 sanctioned projects worth Rs 1.4 lakh crore. According to the new criteria, dialects cannot be opened for a project until the highway construction agency has at least 80% of the required land in its possession.
