New Delhi: Awarding of contracts for national highways construction slowed down in the first half of the current financial year, even though the momentum picked up in September, according to a SBICAPS report.
New contracts are expected to be awarded for construction of 10,500 kilometres roads in the current fiscal, which
will be below the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) target, the report released on Thursday
said.
A new Vision 2047 may replace Bharatmala Phase 2, bringing in a flurry of greenfield projects in the sector, which have higher capital intensity, it said.
According to the report, the award mix continues to be dominated by small players, but the recent recalibration of bidding norms has ensured that larger projects mainly go to listed developers.
While fastag revenues have shown a strong growth of 24 per cent year-on-year in the April-September period, high frequency indicators such as GST and fuel consumption indicate that fiscal 2023-24 will register record toll revenues of Rs 67,000 crore, the report
stated.
The momentum would ease in next financial year, the report said, adding that it is imperative to expedite monetisation efforts to channel future toll revenue for funding a new era of greenfield
projects.