National Highway (NH) projects awarded jumped 62.9 per cent to 2,236.3 km during the April-September period this Fiscal Year (FY), according to an update released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Friday.
This significant increase strengthens the pipeline of highway infrastructure development, paving the way for enhanced connectivity, improved logistics efficiency, and sustained economic growth, the ministry stated.
Road Transport and Highways sector continued to witness expansion in electronic toll collection, with such transactions increasing to 225.2 crore during FY 2026-27 (April-September), registering a year-on-year growth of 24.1 per cent. Further, the electronic toll collection (ETC) value stands at Rs 36,994.5 crore for the same period with YoY growth of 11.7 per cent, indicating sustained adoption of electronic tolling and increasing digitalisation of toll collection across the road network.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is releasing the quarterly update of the PAIMANA (Project Assessment, Infrastructure Monitoring & Analytics for Nation building) Performance Dashboard, presenting the performance of key infrastructure sectors through a set of standardised indicators.
The civil aviation sector recorded sustained growth in air cargo movement, with cargo handled up 12.0 per cent YoY during FY 2026-27 (April-August) to 18.6 lakh tonnes, indicating broad-based growth in air freight activity. The civil aviation sector continues to support India’s growing international tourism footprint, with 30.49 lakh foreign tourist arrivals recorded up to August in FY 2026–27, up 2 per cent YoY.
The telecommunications sector recorded continued expansion of digital infrastructure, with cumulative Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) laid reaching 7,52,113 km by August 2026.
This represents an addition of 29,256 km during FY 2026-27 (April-August), strengthening the country’s high-speed digital connectivity infrastructure.
The number of Gram Panchayats connected also increased to 2,23,814 as of August 2026, representing addition of 5,352 in FY 2026-27 (April-August).
Ports, Shipping and Waterways sector recorded continued growth in cargo traffic, with cargo handled at Major Ports rising by 7.2 per cent YoY to 390.4 million tonnes during FY 2026-27 (April-August). Cargo traffic at Non-Major Ports increased by 1.8 per cent YoY to 313.4 million tonnes during the same period.
Overall, the growth reflects sustained cargo movement and continued utilisation of port infrastructure supporting domestic and international trade. Petroleum and crude products remained the largest commodity category, accounting for about 29.2 per cent of total cargo handled, with a 3.1 per cent YoY increase.
Railways strengthened its infrastructure and freight capacity, with cumulative electrified track kilometres increasing by 4.8 per cent and the number of railway wagons rising by 5.4 per cent in FY 2024–25.
The power sector recorded a 12.1 per cent YoY increase in total installed capacity, reaching 5,32,739.7 MW as of March 2026.