Srinagar, Jul 23 (KNO): The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Thursday informed Parliament that 38 National Highway (NH) projects covering a total length of 720 kilometres are currently under construction in Jammu and Kashmir, while 22 NH projects spanning 389 kilometres have been completed in the last three years.
Replying to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, as reported by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said that under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, Jammu and Kashmir has a total planned length of 433 km, of which 251 km has been awarded. Of the awarded length, 179 km has been constructed till May 2026, while 72 km remains under construction.
The ministry also stated that during the last three financial years, highway projects measuring 179 km worth Rs 2,774 crore were sanctioned in 2023-24, followed by 29 km worth Rs 1,262 crore in 2024-25 and 16 km worth Rs 370 crore in 2025-26 in Jammu and Kashmir.
The government said delays in NH projects are mainly caused by land acquisition issues, statutory and forest clearances, utility shifting, encroachment removal, law and order concerns, shortage of construction materials, poor contractor performance and force majeure events. It added that project monitoring has been strengthened through the Bhoomi Rashi Portal, Parivesh Portal, PRAGATI, and the GIS-based Data Lake 3.0 platform, along with AI/ML-enabled drone monitoring to ensure timely execution—(KNO)