Nitin Gadkari, Union road transport and highways minister, inaugurated and laid foundation stones for several projects in his home state Maharashtra.

Work on Mumbai-Goa highway will be completed within the next one year. The government inaugurated three national highway projects worth Rs 131.87 crore in Raigad district and a ground-breaking ceremony for 42- km of road projects worth Rs 430 crore.

Sixteen National Highway projects have been launched in Manipur with an investment of Rs. 4,148 crore, covering a total length of 298 km. The projects will provide all weather connectivity to Manipur with the rest of the country and the neighbouring countries. Detailed project reports are expected within six months.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to award 2,000 km of highway projects in the current financial year, taking the total length to around 4,350 km in the current fiscal ending March 31. NHAI is also ramping up the pipeline of highway projects to be awarded in the first quarter of FY2021-2022.

Fifteen National Highway projects in Nagaland were inaugurated and foundation stones laid recently. These projects have a length of about 266 km and will cost about Rs. 4,127 crore. With this, all districts in Nagaland barring a few will have road connection. Works on 690 km of roads are in progress.

The Government has awarded 15,000 km of highway projects during FY2017-18 involving more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Around two-third of the works have been awarded under engineering procurement and construction mode (EPC).

Crisil recent report indicates steep decline in high-risk highway projects. Refinancing potential up 10x to over Rs 1 lakh crore, with 100-300 bps rate benefits. NHAI initiatives have yielded desired results.

According to the NHAI data, of the highway projects awarded till May 31st, 38 projects have been awarded on EPC, 35 on hybrid-annuity and 4 projects on BOT (build-operate-transfer) mode. Hybrid-annuity contracts have revived the private sector participation in highway projects. Such project are maintained by the concessionaire even after the construction is over.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently laid the foundation stone of three national highway projects at Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Kundli-Sonipat in Haryana.