300 National Highway projects on the anvil

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Narendra Modi-led government is all set to roll out nearly 300 National Highway projects in the country. These projects will add 12,000 km of road length to the existing network of National Highways.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari recently held a two-day meeting to review 700 ongoing National Highway projects, out of which over 300 projects were identified to be completed by 2019. Transport Ministry officials said this would be the highest ever construction in one financial year. As of now, 5,759 km of highways have been constructed this year. Officials said that at present, road projects of around 61,300 km length are in progress, at a cost of Rs 6.5 lakh crore.

Sources in the Ministry said that the Modi government was going to project infrastructure projects as its biggest achievements in the upcoming elections. Several big ticket road projects have already been put on the fast track so as to showcase them ahead of the elections. These projects include the ambitious Bharatmala and several other road projects that are crucial for border security and for strategic reasons. The ministry is also undertaking 12,000 km of road projects in the Northeast at a cost of Rs 1.9 lakh crore.

A senior Transport Ministry official said that work had already begun on PhaseI of the Bharatmala Pariyojana, which envisages 34,800 km of National Highway by 2021-22. The government will spend Rs 5.35 lakh crore on the project. This includes 5,000 km of national corridors, 9,000 km of economic corridors, 6,000 km of feeder and inter-corridors, 2,000 km of border roads, 2,000 km of coastal roads and port connectivity roads and 800 km of green-field expressways. Till October 2018, the Ministry has awarded contracts for 6,407 km road projects under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) are being prepared for these.

Similarly, the government is undertaking the Chard- ham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojana on a war footing. The project envisages the development of 889 km of all-weather roads to four prominent pilgrimage sites— Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath—in the state of Uttarakhand. The project being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crore, is targeted for completion by March 2020. However, the government may commission certain sections of the Chardham road project before the 2019 elections.