Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The agencies in charge of NH construction in the state have proved to be true the age-old saying that things move very slowly in Assam. In the current financial year, they will not be able to disprove the adage, as construction targets will be missed by the agencies concerned yet again.
The target for NH construction in Assam in the current financial year is 378 km, but, until November 2025, the agencies concerned could complete only 142 km of national highways. This means that not even 50% of the target has been met, although just a few months of the financial year 2025-26 are left. In the remaining period of 2025-26, the agencies will have to complete work on 236 km of NH to achieve the target set. This is practically impossible, considering the pace of work.
Since 2014, the construction of four-lane highways in Upper Assam has been going on, but there is no end in sight. Even work on stretches of the East-West corridor in the Dima Hasao district has become a never-ending story.
National Highways in Assam are constructed mainly by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), National Highways Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) and Assam PWD (NH). It is up to these agencies and the contractors appointed by them to finish works on time, which they have failed to do.
Regarding completion of works in time, the same situation can be witnessed in the other NE states too. In Arunachal Pradesh, the target for construction of national highways was set at 100 km in the current fiscal year. However, until November 2025, only 35 km of NH has been constructed. Similarly, only 18 km of the targeted 165 km of NH in Manipur has been completed. The target for Meghalaya was 58 km, but only 29 km of NH has been completed. For Mizoram, a target to complete 87 km of NH was set, but the agencies could construct only 22 km. The same story is repeated in Nagaland, where just 33 km of the targeted 168 km of NH has been completed in this financial year until November.
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