Union Budget 2025 hikes funds for roads by 2.4%

The annual growth in budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways continued to see a decline for the second year in a row.

The Ministry received an allocation of ₹2.87 lakh crore. This is a mere 2.4% increase as compared to the Revised Estimate for FY 2025 of ₹2.80 lakh crore and a 3.3% increase in comparison to the Budgetary Estimate for FY 2025 at ₹2.78 lakh crore.

Last fiscal’s allocation was a 2.7% increase as compared to Budget Estimates of FY 2024. Over the last year, roads had received a major push with fiscal hikes ranging from 20% (FY 2018) to 68% (FY 2020). Only in FY 2017, there was an increase in allocation of a mere 1.2%.

Nearly 60% of the total allocation is set aside for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at ₹1.7 lakh crore.

The provision for road projects and frontier highways in Arunachal Pradesh for improved connectivity to international borders and in Northeastern region under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme stands at ₹8,500 crore registering a decline of 34% as compared to the RE of FY 2025 with ₹11,400 crore.