The Union Budget 2023 on Wednesday (February 1) allocated Rs 2.7 lakh crore to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) for 2023-24. FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s allocations is 30 percent higher than the budget estimate (BE) of Rs 1.99 lakh crore for 2022-23.
The Road Transport and Highways Ministry which is constructing expressways under the Modi government’s ambitious PM Gati Shakti master plan, witnessed an increase of Rs 68,000 crore in allocation in the Union Budget of last year.
This year’s Budget allocation for the ministry rose sharply by 50 percent to Rs 1.99 lakh crore compared to the revised estimate (RE) of Rs 1.31 lakh crore and around was 68 percent higher than the BE of Rs 1.18 lakh crore in FY 2021-22.
The allocation in the 2022-23 Budget included Rs 11,363.71 crore as revenue expenditure and Rs 1.87 lakh crore as a capital expenditure with a view to quickening the pace of highways construction.
Of the total capital expenditure, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was allocated around Rs 1.34 lakh for 2022-2023, reflecting a 75 percent jump compared to that of Rs 76,665 crore in 2021-2022. The Budget envisaged an expansion of 25,000 km in the highways network in the current fiscal.
In 2021-22, the budgetary allocation for the ministry has seen a 30 percent increase to Rs 1.18 lakh crore against the revised estimate of Rs 1.01 lakh crore for 2020-21. The actual allocation for the ministry was Rs 99,159 crore in 2020-21.
The Centre has included 1,537 projects under the ambitious Sagarmala Programme at a cost of Rs 6.5 lakh crore. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways aims to complete projects worth Rs 2 lakh crore in the next financial year under the Sagarmala Programme. The ministry estimates that the target of freight transportation of 340 million tonnes (MT) can be achieved through coastal shipping by FY 25.
