More than half of the 1,191 National Highway (NH) projects currently under construction have crossed their original completion timelines, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday, July 22.In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said 629 projects have spilled beyond their originally scheduled completion date.
“There are currently 1,191 National Highway (NH) projects under construction without attaining any of the various stages of project completion. Of these, 629 projects have spilled beyond their original completion schedule,” Gadkari said. He did not specify the reasons for the delays.
103 contractors penalised for poor-quality workIn a separate reply, Gadkari said the government blacklisted or penalised 103 contractors and concessionaires between 2023-24 and 2025-26 for poor-quality work in the execution of National Highway construction projects.NEET row rocks Parliament again; govt ready for debate, Kharge demands education minister resign firstAdvanced traffic management rollout underwayResponding to another question, the minister said the government has adopted a phased roadmap for deploying Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) across all four-lane and above National Highways and Expressways, covering about 52,647 km.
The roadmap includes setting up Local, Regional and National Command and Control Centres for centralised monitoring, incident management, traffic analytics and coordinated response.Gadkari added that a Unified ATMS Software Platform is being implemented to ensure interoperability, scalability and uniform service delivery across the National Highway network through standardised protocols for monitoring, enforcement, data integration and performance management.6,358 black corridors identified using AIReplying to a separate query, Gadkari said 6,358 black corridors have been identified based on accident data available through the Electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) for the period 2023-2025.He said these are continuous stretches on National Highways that meet the criteria of black spots, where a specified number of accidents involving fatalities and grievous injuries have occurred. The black corridors have been identified in real time using AI-based tools.Over 77 lakh FASTag Annual Passes issuedOn the FASTag-based Annual Pass scheme, Gadkari said the facility for non-commercial cars, jeeps and vans, which came into effect on August 15, 2025, allows users to activate an annual pass for ₹3,075 for 2026-27.The pass permits travel through all National Highway and National Expressway toll plazas for one year or up to 200 toll plaza crossings, whichever is earlier.”As of June 2026, more than 77 lakh Annual Passes have been issued, registering 63 crore transactions at National Highway fee plazas,” Gadkari said. He added that Annual Pass transactions currently account for around 33% of all Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) transactions by cars, jeeps and vans.CJP Protest Jantar Mantar Live Updates: CJP appeals to Sonam Wangchuk to end fast; ready to meet Nadda at ‘neutral venue’ today
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