New Delhi: The Bharatmala highway development programme is set for an early withdrawal, as the government looks to ramp up its road-construction plan and align it with a more ambitious Vision 2047 that envisages building up to 50,000km of access-controlled highways and expressways, a senior government official said on Friday.
According to Anurag Jain, secretary, ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), the new strategy of the ministry is to directly move to Vision 2047 plan finalized by it, which would entail construction of about 50,000km of access-controlled expressways criss-crossing the country. This plan would provide commuters access to these faster expressways at a distance of 100-125 km from any point in the country.
Mint broke the story in October on the government’s plan to prematurely exit the Bharatamala highway programme conceived six years ago, and start building largely access-controlled highways in the country.
The development of expressways was critical for the next phase of infrastructure development, as it would lead to faster travel, reduce fuel consumption and help lower logistics cost, Jain said, briefing media persons about the achievements of the ministry in 2023.
The government finalized the Bharatmala Pariyojana in 2017, with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approving the phase 1 of the programme the same year. The programme was divided into two phases. The first phase aimed to construct 34,800km of highways that would link several of the existing road infrastructure while providing better connectivity to various industrial corridors. The approval for phase 2 of the programme involving construction of over 5,000km of access-controlled highways with a total investment of about ₹3 trillion was expected in 2023, as the ministry had finalized a note for the cabinet for a quick approval.
It is now expected that all pending Bharatamala projects would be withdrawn, and a fresh cabinet note would be moved on the Vision 2047 plan with the identification of new road alignments and completion of detailed project reports (DPRs) for greenfield projects. The new plan would also incorporate elements of the Bharatmala programme that also focused on building a network of expressways across the country.
Under Bharatmala phase I, contracts for 27,384km roads have been awarded so far. The balance award of 7,500km would now be aligned with the Vision 2047 plan along with the proposed construction under Bharatmala phase 2.
Jain informed that the length of high-speed corridors (access-controlled) in the country rose from a mere 353km in 2014, to 3,913 now.
To a question on the slowing pace of highway construction, Jain said that more than 6,217km of roads has been completed up to December 2023, which is more than that achieved in the same period last year. On awards also, the secretary said, the period when the election code of conduct would be in force would be used to complete DPRs for various highway projects so that the award pipeline is enhanced substantially from about 10,000km this year.
With regard to standardization of wayside amenities along the highways, the secretary said that new guidelines are being finalized that would help improve infrastructure along the already-developed highways, while more than 400 wayside amenities are proposed to be awarded by the end of the current fiscal year. Also, satellite-based tolling is proposed to be started on 10-15 stretches by March this year, with a plan to expand it further based on the experience gained from these pilot projects. The toll revenue from national highways touched ₹18,450 crore till December, against FY24 target of ₹24,977 crore.
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Published: 05 Jan 2024, 11:38 PM IST