Everything you need to know about the prestigious Bharatmala Pariyojana project
The national government started an ambitious highway expansion initiative – the Bharatmala project – in 2017 to improve connectivity, particularly along economic corridors, border regions, and far-flung districts (or Bharatmala Pariyojana).
The Bharatmala Pariyojana is an Indian government-funded major road and highways project that aims to establish a reliable high-speed road network across the country. After the National Motorways Development Project, the Bharatmala Pariyojana has been dubbed India’s second-largest highways development project (NHDP). The road network is created as part of the center’s flagship Bharatmala project is expected to help with cargo movement and international trade, among other things.
After the union cabinet authorized the project on October 25, 2017, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari remarked, “Bharatmala would bring down logistical costs, influencing exports and investment.” Faster mobility is also expected to reduce supply chain expenses from their current average of 18 percent to 6%.Through effective interventions such as the development of economic corridors, inter-corridors, and feeder routes, national corridor efficiency improvement, border, and international connectivity roads, coastal and port connectivity roads, and greenfield expressways, the project focuses on optimizing the efficiency of freight and passenger movement across thecountry.
Beginning in Gujarat and Rajasthan and progressing through Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal before reaching Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Mizoram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project aims to connect India’s north-eastern states.
Current Developments
While the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had hoped to complete the whole road network by 2022, due to land acquisition challenges, cost overruns, and numerous waves of the Coronavirus epidemic, construction on the Bharatmala project Phase 1 is expected to be delayed by four years. The government announced in October 2020 that Phase 1 had completed 2,921 kilometers of roadways. Work on Phase 1 could be finished by FY 2026, according to rating agency ICRA, assuming all work contracts are issued by FY 2023.The cost of creating Bharatmala Phase 1 was originally anticipated to be Rs 5.35 lakh crores, but it has now risen to Rs 8.5 lakh crores, owing to delays in land acquisition.
After the union Road Transport Ministry accepted its inclusion, Madhya Pradesh’s Atal Progress-Way project would be included in Phase 1 of the Bharatmala project. The Atal Progress-Way project, which is expected to cost Rs 7,000 crores, would be built on 1,500 hectares of government property. The Atal Progress-Way would prove to be a lifeline for the Gwalior-Chambal division’s growth. This 404-kilometer road will be surrounded by an industrial corridor. It will play a vital role in the region’s economic growth. This 404-kilometer highway in Madhya Pradesh will connect Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh) in the east and Kota (Rajasthan) in the west, passing through the Chambal districts of Bhind, Morena, and Sheopur.
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