The government has informed the Parliament that projects comprising length of over 6,500 km have been completed under the first phase of the Bharatmala Pariyojana.

A total of around 24,800 km are being considered in Phase 1 of Bharatmala. In addition, Bharatmala Pariyojana phase -1 also includes 10,000 kms of balance road works under National Highways Development Project (NHDP), taking the total to 34,800 km at an estimated cost of Rs 5,35,000 crore. Bharatmala Phase I - is to be implemented over a five years period of 2017-18 to 2021-22.

"Out of 34,800 km approved under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, projects comprising length of 19,265 km have been awarded, out of this a length of 6,567 Km has been completed," Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (1 December).

"Detailed Project Reports for the remaining length have been initiated with award of these projects targeted by Year 2023 and completion by Year 2025-26," the minister said.

He further added that the Road Transport and Highways Ministry is working to create a robust pipeline of projects for tracking on daily basis at different levels using technology driven platforms like Data Lake to conduct real time reviews of projects.

In addition, the ministry is identifying and resolving issues leading to delay in award and implementation of projects across multiple agencies through Inter-Ministerial Committees, he said.