India’s Biggest Highway Push Slows—No Fresh Bharatmala Approvals As Government Focuses On Completion of Pending Projects

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has announced that no new projects will be undertaken under the government’s flagship Bharatmala Pariyojana, as the focus shifts to completing the existing works, according to a report by The Indian Express.

The decision, outlined in the ministry’s latest annual report, comes at a time when only 76 per cent of the total approved length of the project has been awarded for construction, with significant delays and cost overruns impacting its progress.

Approved by the Cabinet in October 2017, Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-1 was launched as an ambitious initiative to develop a total of 34,800 km of roads across 31 states and Union Territories, covering more than 550 districts.

Designed to enhance road freight traffic efficiency, the project, along with Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and North-South and East-West (NS-EW) corridors, is expected to carry the majority of the freight traffic on road.

However, as of now, only 26,425 km has been awarded for construction, and just 19,201 km has been completed—around 55 per cent of the target.

“Total aggregate length of 26,425 km with a total capital cost of Rs 8,53,656 crore has been approved and awarded till date under Bharatmala Pariyojana (including 6,758 km length of residual NHDP). No further projects are now being taken up under Bharatmala Pariyojana,” according to the Ministry’s annual report 2024-25, IE reported.

Originally estimated to cost Rs 5.35 lakh crore with a completion deadline of September 2022, the project has faced a steep rise in expenses due to delay and escalation in the cost of land acquisition.

The project is now expected to extend until at least 2027-28.

In the first nine months of the 2024-25 financial year, 1,790 km of the project was completed, while progress continues across its ten key components.

So far, 5,986 km of economic corridors have been built out of the awarded 8,737 km, while inter-corridor roads have reached 2,108 km of the sanctioned 2,889 km.

Feeder roads have seen completion of 540 km, whereas national corridors stand at 1,394 km out of the awarded 1,777 km. Additionally, 1,791 km of expressways have been completed out of the allocated 2,422 km, and around 1,400 km of border and international connectivity roads have been developed.

Under the balance roadworks of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), 5,058 km have been completed from the sanctioned 6,758 km.

Despite the challenges faced, the ministry has reaffirmed its commitment to Vision 2047, an initiative that seeks to establish high-speed corridors within 100-150 km of every location in the country and position India among the top ten nations in the G20 for road infrastructure.

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