Overview

• As of July 30, 2025, 489 national highway projects across India remain unfinished due to delays in land acquisition, forest and wildlife clearances and railway approvals.
• The ministry has mobilized state governments and railway authorities to accelerate pending clearances and remove bureaucratic bottlenecks.
• Enhanced land compensation, material price escalation, GST impacts, extra underpasses and overbridges and design changes for railway standards have driven significant cost overruns.
• Contracts for projects with inordinate delays are being terminated or foreclosed before being re-awarded with possible modifications to their configurations.
• All ongoing road works will adhere to Indian Road Congress specifications with design speeds up to 120 km/h for expressways and 100 km/h for highways.