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Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Revises Construction Deadlines for National Highway Projects
MoRTH: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has set a new deadline for the construction of national highway projects. Projects up to ₹300 crore will now have to be completed within a maximum of 12 months. Read the report for complete details of these new infrastructure regulations.
A base construction period has been prescribed by the government for highway projects.
- Projects costing less than ₹300 crore have a base period of 12 months.
- Road projects costing between ₹300 crore and ₹500 crore have a base period of 18 months.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) stated on Monday that the base construction period for national highway projects in plain and rugged terrain should be based on the total civil cost, as scientific analysis required a change in the existing guidelines.
Highway projects having a civil cost of ₹501 crore to ₹1,500 crore have a base period of 24 months. According to an instruction issued by the ministry, the base period may be extended based on the complexity of the project (for instance, road-over-bridge crossings, elevated stretches, and tunneling).
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The ministry also stated that an additional 12 months should be added to the advanced base construction period to compensate for construction cutting and slope stabilization related to terrain difficulties. These standard construction periods will apply to all national highway projects bid on or after May 6, 2026, under the Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) mode, the Hybrid Annuity Model (HM), or the Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) mode.
This rule related to highway construction projects will apply to national highway projects located in hilly/mountainous inaccessible areas of Himalayan/Northeastern states such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir except Jammu, Ladakh, Sikkim, Darjeeling Hills, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.
According to the notification issued by the government, the consultant preparing the detailed project report (DPR) will also be required to estimate the construction period from a realistic perspective. Previously, the standard EPC contract document stipulated timelines, requiring completion of a highway more than 50 kilometers long and a major bridge less than 200 meters long within 24-30 months.
