What happened
As of February 2026, seven stretches of the North-South and East-West corridors remain incomplete, a full quarter-century after they were first conceived. These 140 kilometers of missing road have survived three decades of technological advancement, multiple prime ministers, and a total of 780 other delayed central projects. With cost overruns hitting 4.8 lakh crore, the government is effectively paying premium prices for a scenic tour of land acquisition bottlenecks and contractor bankrupty notices.