Despite being home State of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Maharashtra has emerged as the State with the highest number of National Highway projects running beyond their original completion schedule in the country. The data was tabled by Gadkari in the Lok Sabha, on Thursday. Replying to an unstarred question by K Radhakrishnan, Karti Chidambaram, and Benny Behanan in Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways informed the house that 51 National Highway projects sanctioned or awarded during the last five financial years have failed to meet their original completion deadlines in Maharashtra, the highest among all States and Union Territories in the country. Uttar Pradesh ranks second in the list with 39 such projects, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 38, Karnataka with 37, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala with 33 each.

 

The disclosure comes at a time when commuters across the State continue to grapple with prolonged construction zones, diversions, traffic congestion and deteriorating road conditions on several major highway stretches. A glaring example of such delays can be seen on Katol road from the city, where the consistent delays in four-laning project of 48-km section of National Highway 357-J, which was awarded in March 2021, attracted the wrath of High Court in May 2025 as it was moving at a slow pace. The original deadline for completion of the project was in October 2023. In its written reply, the Ministry acknowledged that a number of highway projects across the country had overshot their scheduled completion dates.

 

However, the Ministry attributed the delays primarily to land acquisition hurdles, statutory and environmental clearances, utility shifting, encroachment removal, law and order issues, poor performance of contractors and concessionaires, and force majeure events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry clarified that delayed projects do not necessarily result in cost overruns. It said price escalation is paid only when delays are beyond the contractor’s control, while contractors responsible for delays are liable to pay damages under contractual provisions. The data also revealed that penalties amounting to nearly Rs 2,732 crore have been imposed on contractors and concessionaires for delayed execution over the past three financial years.

 

Of this, only about Rs 780 crore have been recovered, so far. The Ministry further stated that construction contracts generally prescribe completion timelines of two to three years, although extensions are permitted where delays arise due to factors beyond the contractor’s control. To address recurring delays, the Ministry said it has introduced a series of measures, including faster land acquisition through the Bhoomirashi portal, quicker environmental clearances via the revamped Parivesh portal, online approvals for railway overbridges and underpasses, and regular project reviews through mechanisms such as the Project Monitoring Group and PRAGATI.