New Delhi [India], September 8 : Road awarding activity is expected to accelerate in the coming months as tendering has gained momentum, noted a research report by Anand Rathi.
The report mentioned that the road tenders almost tripled year-on-year to around Rs 372 bln in Aug'25 from Rs 113 bln in Aug'24. Awards in August this year stood at about Rs 339 bln compared to a peak of Rs 1.4 trln (Trillion) in Mar'25.
It stated "Road tenders almost trebled y/y from approx. Rs113 bn in Aug'24 to approx. Rs372bn".
The report said the bid value of tenders floated rose by nearly 80 per cent to about Rs 2.7 trln in Jun-Aug'25 from Rs 1.5 trln in Mar-May'25.
With NHAI and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways identifying 124 projects worth around Rs 3.4 trillion to be awarded in FY26, the report said road awards is likely to accelerate in coming months.
The report shared that the current live tenders are worth about Rs 1.85 trillion, and the roads account for around 59 per cent of these, followed by railways at 11 per cent and ports at 10 per cent.
About 80 per cent of live tenders were published in the last three months, while only 4 per cent are more than 12 months old.
The size of orders has also gone up. Around 52 per cent of orders were above Rs 30 bln in Jun-Aug'25 compared to 6 per cent in Mar-May'25.
Muted awards were seen in Aug'25 at around Rs 339 bln, down 54 per cent on year. A total of 40 Letters of Award were issued in the month. About 77 per cent of these were below Rs 30 bln.
In terms of sectoral contribution, railways accounted for 36 per cent of the awards in Aug'25, coal mine developer and operator projects 15 per cent, and roads 11 per cent.
The report said the awarding numbers exclude an L1 pipeline of about Rs 375 bln declared in Aug'25. This includes about Rs 172 bln from a water-linking project under the Eastern Rajasthan Canal project.
L1 pipeline refers to projects where the lowest bidder has already been identified, but the formal Letter of Award (LoA) or contract has not yet been issued.
The report shared that the L1 pipeline is expected to be converted into Letters of Award in the coming months, which could push up award momentum, the report added.