The total length of National Highways (NH) in the country has increased from about 91,287 km to about 1,40,937 km since April 2014.
From year 2014-15 till the end of November 2021 of the financial year 2021-22, projects in about 82,058 km have been awarded, and completion has been achieved in about 68,068 km length of roads.
This information was given by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Bharatmala Pariyojana phase–1, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in October 2017, includes the development of 24,800 km length of greenfield expressways, inter-corridor and feeder roads etc. and balance subsumed about 10,000 km under National Highways Development Projects (NHDP).
So far, works in about 19,482 km have been awarded, and completion in approximately 7,952 km length has been achieved under the programme.
The programme inter-alia envisages the development of about 22 greenfield expressways in approximately 8,400 km length for a total cost of about Rs 3.6 lakh crore.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, projects in about 5,065 km have been awarded for total capital costs (TCC) of about Rs 2,30,489 crore; out of these works in nearly 1,225 km have been completed.
“Projects in about 500 km with TCC of about Rs 26,012 crore are at bidding stage; balance length of about 2,844 km are at pre-construction stages entailing approximate TCC of more than about Rs 1,00,000 crore; these projects are targeted for award during current financial year 2021-22 and 2022-23 in phased manner. All these projects are targeted for completion in a phased manner by 2024-25,” the ministry said.