New Delhi, August 5: Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest expenditure on National Highway projects among all States during the last two financial years, spending ₹32,422 crore on highway construction. Despite executing the country’s costliest National Highway programme during the period, the State did not feature in the Union Government’s list of projects that developed major structural defects or quality failures.
The information was disclosed by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The Ministry stated that Andhra Pradesh opened 55 National Highway projects covering 1,769 km over the two years. While Maharashtra opened a longer network of 2,045 km, its expenditure stood at ₹31,365 crore, placing Andhra Pradesh at the top in terms of project spending.
National Highway Projects Opened During the Last Two Years
| State | Projects | Length (km) | Expenditure (₹ crore) |
| Andhra Pradesh | 55 | 1,769 | 32,422 |
| Maharashtra | 77 | 2,045 | 31,365 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 33 | 864 | 21,855 |
| Haryana | 20 | 507 | 20,353 |
| Bihar | 31 | 856 | 19,969 |
| Gujarat | 33 | 749 | 19,777 |
| Tamil Nadu | 45 | 1,029 | 15,414 |
| Kerala | 10 | 268 | 13,203 |
The Ministry’s reply also highlighted quality issues in National Highway construction across the country. It identified 30 projects spread across 13 States where major deficiencies such as bridge collapses, pavement failures, rutting, potholes, retaining wall failures and soil collapses were reported during the last two years and the current year. Andhra Pradesh was not included in the list of projects with reported major defects.
Kerala accounted for the highest number of reported quality failures, while Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal also reported serious structural deficiencies in one or more highway projects. According to the Ministry, some of these failures resulted in accidents, fatalities, injuries, vehicle damage and traffic disruptions, prompting penalties, suspension of engineers, blacklisting of officials and debarment of contractors in several cases.
The reply further shows that Andhra Pradesh was awarded 780 km of new National Highway projects during the two financial years, comprising 418 km in 2024-25 and 362 km in 2025-26
