Key Details
MoSPI’s October 2026 update expands the PAIMANA Performance Monitoring Dashboard, launched in April, while reporting selected changes across six infrastructure sectors.
Measure | Latest Figure | Reporting Period |
|---|---|---|
Dashboard coverage | 184 indicators, including 21 newly added; data refreshed for 41 indicators | October 2026 update |
National highway projects awarded | 2,236.3 km, up 62.9% year-on-year | April–September 2026 |
Air cargo handled | 18.6 lakh tonnes, up 12.0% year-on-year | April–August 2026 |
Cargo handled at major ports | 390.4 million tonnes, up 7.2% year-on-year | April–August 2026 |
Optical fibre cable laid | 7,52,113 km cumulatively, with 29,256 km added | As of August 2026 |
A Wider View of Infrastructure Performance
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation launched PAIMANA in April 2026 to make infrastructure statistics available through one dashboard. The latest expansion takes it to 184 indicators across civil aviation, roads and highways, power, ports and waterways, telecommunications, and railways.
The indicators are organised around five dimensions: access, quality, fiscal cost and revenue, utilisation, and affordability. That breadth matters because adding infrastructure is only one part of the picture; its use, service quality and cost also affect what it delivers.
Freight and Connectivity Measures Point to Growth, but Track Different Stages
The quarterly figures show increases in air cargo and major-port cargo handled, both measures of activity. National highway projects awarded rose sharply, but an award represents a pipeline of work, not kilometres of road completed. Optical fibre additions, by contrast, measure expansion of a physical network.
Other dashboard figures have different reference dates. Installed power capacity reached 5,32,739.7 MW by March 2026, with renewable energy sources accounting for about 42% of the total. The release also reports 2,23,814 Gram Panchayats connected as of August 2026. These figures add context, but should not be read as outcomes from the same quarter.
Policy Relevance
PAIMANA’s value lies in allowing users to follow several parts of an infrastructure system together. A rise in projects awarded can be compared over time with construction and use; network expansion can be examined alongside access and affordability.
For planning: Common sector-wise indicators can make it easier to spot where capacity is growing faster than its utilisation—or where demand is rising ahead of infrastructure.
For public interpretation: Clear reporting periods and definitions are essential. The dashboard combines awards, installed capacity, connections and actual traffic, which answer different policy questions.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: As PAIMANA expands, which indicators best show whether new infrastructure is improving access, service quality and use — not simply increasing capacity?
Follow the Full Press Release Here: Quarterly Release of the Performance Monitoring Dashboard of Infrastructure Sector in India