22-Dec-2021: National Highways under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Scheme

Projects comprising length of 19,265 km have been awarded with cost of Rs. 5,60,216 crore, under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I. Till now, length of about 6,750 km has been completed.

Projects comprising length of 612 km with cost of Rs. 13,720 crore have been awarded in the State of Bihar, under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I.

Targets for the construction of National Highways are finalized on year to year basis. The Government has set a target of 12,000 km of National Highway for construction during the current financial year 2021-22 against which 5,118 Km has been constructed as on 30th November 2021.

To achieve the target for current financial year 2021-22, Government is closely monitoring various issues affecting completion of NH projects like land acquisition, encroachment removal, law & order issues, utility shifting, non-availability of soil/aggregate, environment/forest/wildlife clearances, ROB & RUB issues, contractual issues, etc. with all stakeholders including State Governments and other Central Ministries/Departments. Regular meetings with concerned State officials at local/district/state level are held on daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly basis, as per requirements based on the criticality of the issues.

It is estimated that about 4,076 man-days or about 15.5 man-years of employment is required for construction of one kilometer of National Highway. Therefore, 14.2 crore man-days or 5.37 lakh man-years of employment are required for implementation of Bharatmala Pariyojana.

16-Dec-2021: Bharatmala Pariyojana Inner

The Government of India had approved Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I in October, 2017 with an aggregate length of about 34,800 km (including 10,000 km residual NHDP stretches) at an estimated outlay of Rs. 5,35,000.00 crores for development of about 9,000 km length of Economic corridors, about 6,000 km length of Inter-corridor and feeder roads, about 5,000 km length of National Corridors Efficiency improvements, about 2,000 km length of Border and International connectivity roads, about 2,000 km length of Coastal and port connectivity roads, about 800 km length of Expressways.

Projects comprising length of 1,371 km have been awarded in North Eastern States, including Assam, under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, out of which 27 km length has been completed. The State-wise details are as under:

3 National Highways (715K, 137 & 137G) have been declared in the State of Assam.

Badarpurghat-Mamit Road and Silchar-Kanail bazar road in the State of Assam have not been declared as National Highways. The Ministry considers declaration of NHs from time to time based on the requirement of connectivity, inter-se priority and availability of funds.

11-Oct-2020: 2921 km roads constructed under Bharatmala Pariyojana

A total of 322 projects in a length of 12,413 Km have been awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana till August, 2020. Further, 2921 Km has been constructed under the Project till the same date.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken up detailed review of NHs network and has given overall investment approval for Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I Scheme for development of about 34,800 km (including 10,000 Km residual NHDP stretches)  at an estimated outlay of Rs 5,35,000 Crore.

Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions like development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International connectivity roads, Coastal and Port connectivity roads and Green-field expressways.

8-Jul-2019: Bharatmala Projects along Indo-Nepal Border areas

The Government of India has approved Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana with financial outlay of Rs 5,35,000 crore to develop 24,800 km Highways along with 10,000 km residual NHDP stretches over a period of five years.

In Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, development of Border & International Connectivity roads for a length of 2000 km has also been envisaged with outlay of Rs 25,000 crore.

Along Indo-Nepal Border, the project i.e. balance work of Piprakothi-Motihari-Raxaul on NH-28A of about 69 km length and civil cost of approximately Rs 334 crore has been awarded in December, 2018 and commenced in February, 2019 with scheduled completion period of 12 months.

3-Jan-2019: NHAI to raise Rs 10,000 crore through Bharatmala bonds

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to raise Rs 10,000 crore through Bharatmala taxable bonds in the ongoing financial year.

The government has approved raising of Rs 62,000 crore by NHAI in 2018-19.

A draft self-prospectus (DSP)/offer document has been filed with the stock exchanges and SEBI to raise Bharatmala Taxable Bonds through public issue with shelf limit of Rs 10,000 crore.

The minister said as per the internal and extra budgetary resources approved for 2018-19 by the government, a sum of Rs 62,000 crore is to be raised by NHAI through various instruments/sources including Bharatmala bonds. The amount is being raised accordingly and till date a sum of Rs 41,170 crore has been raised by NHAI.

The government conceptualised the Bharatmala Pariyojana for development of highways across the country which includes development of about 65,000 km of border roads, international connectivity roads, coastal roads, port connectivity roads, ring roads, among others.

Under the phase 1 of Bharatmala Pariyojana, the government has approved implementation of 24,800 km highways and 10,000 km balance NHDP projects over a period of five years from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

12-Mar-2018: Allocation of funds for Bharatmala Projects

The Cabinet has accorded approval to the investment proposal for the programme Bharatmala Pariyojana (BMP) Phase-I on 24.10.2017 for development/upgradation of 34,800 km of National Highways (NHs). There are six components under this approved programme apart from balance works under the ongoing National Highways Development Project (NHDP). This is to be implemented over a period of five years from 2017-18 to 2021-22 with approved outlay of Rs.5,35,000 Crore. Bharatmala Pariyojana is a new umbrella programme that focuses on optimizing efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions.

In addition, 48,877 kms of projects under other ongoing schemes like NH(O), Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in North East (SARDP-NE), Externally Aided Projects (EAP) and Roads Projects in left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (LWE) are also to be implemented during the same period. This has an approved outlay of Rs.1,57,324 Crore. Therefore, including Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, 83,677 kms of highway sector projects are proposed to be implemented with an overall cost of Rs.6,92,324 Crore.

Including Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, 83,677 kms of highway sector projects are proposed to be implemented with an overall cost of Rs.6,92,324 Crore. Steps are being taken to realize the required fund for these. To augment budgetary resources of the Government, innovative methods of financing are being implemented by the Ministry/its implementing agencies.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is borrowing from the market through the Internal Extra Budgetary Resources (IEBR) route. In 2017-18, NHAI has raised Rs 8,500 crore from LIC and Rs 10,000 crore from EPFO through taxable bonds. Further, NHAI issued rupee denominated Masala Bonds of Rs 3,000 crores through the London Stock Exchange on 11.05.2017. In addition, NHAI is in the process of raising funds through monetization of operational National Highway assets through the Cabinet approved Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) model. The first bundle of TOT projects comprising nine project stretches with aggregate length of around 680 kms has already been bid out.

25-Oct-2017: Highways works worth Rs 8 lakh crore will begin before the end of 2018 under BharatMala Pariyojana.

Highways works worth Rs 8 lakh crore will begin before the end of 2018 under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Phase I of Bharatmala Pariyojana. Bharatmala is a new umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing efficiency of road traffic movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps.

Bharatmala will be a major driver for economic growth in the country, and the programme has been designed to bridge the gaps in the existing highways infrastructure so as to make the movement of man and material more efficient. Special attention has been paid to fulfill the connectivity needs of  backward and tribal areas, areas of economic activity, places of religious and tourist interest, border areas, coastal areas and trade routes with neighbouring countries under the programme.

Bharatmala will give the country 50 national corridors as opposed to the 6 we have at present. With this,  70 – 80 percent of freight will move along NH as against the 40 percent at present. The programme will help to connect 550 Districts in the country through NH linkages. Currently, only around 300 Districts have NH linkages. Bharatmala will also have a positive impact on the Logistic Performance Index (LPI) of the country. Apart from this, the programme will also help generate a large number of direct and indirect employment in the construction activity, the development of highways amenities and also as part of the enhanced economic activity in different parts of the country that will result from better road  connectivity .

A total of around 24,800 kms are being considered in Phase I of Bharatmala. In addition, Bharatmala Pariyojana phase –I also includes 10,000 kms of balance road works under NHDP, taking the total to 34,800 kms at an estimated cost of Rs.5,35,000 crore. Bharatmala Phase I – is to be implemented over a five years period of i.e. 2017-18 to 2021-22.

Bharatmala envisages improving the efficiency of the National Corridor (Golden-Quadrilateral and NS-EW corridor) by decongesting its choke points through lane expansion, construction of ring roads, bypasses/ elevated corridors and logistics parks at identified points. Around 5,000 kms of the National Corridor will be taken up in Phase-I of Bharatmala at an estimated cost of Rs 100,000 crore.

The programme has identified around 26,200 km of Economic Corridors or routes that have heavy freight traffic,  of which 9,000 kms are being taken up for development in Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs 1,20,000 crore.   It is planned to develop these corridors end to end to ensure seamless and speedy travel and uniformity in standards. Besides this, around 8,000 km of Inter-Corridors and around 7,500 km of Feeder Corridors have also been identified under Bharatmala, of which around 6000 km will be developed in Phase I at an estimated cost of Rs 80,000 crore. Stretches of roads connecting more than 2 corridors are classified as Inter-Corridors routes, while other routes connecting to 1 or 2 corridors are termed as Feeder Corridors. These corridors will be developed so as to address the  infrastructure asymmetry that exists at many places .

Bharatmala also envisages building 3300 kms of Border Roads of strategic importance along international boundaries and 2000 km of International Connectivity roads to promote trade with  Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar . Out of this around 2000 km will be taken up under   Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs 25,000 crore.

In addition to the above, around 2,100 km of coastal roads and 2000 km of port connectivity roads have been identified under Bharatmala of which 2,000 kms are being taken up under Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore. About 1,900 km of stretches have been identified for development of green-field expressways of which around 800 kms will be taken up under Phase-I of the programme at an estimated cost of Rs.40,000 crore. The 10,000 km of balance road work under NHDP will be completed at a cost of Rs 1,50,000 crore.

The identification of the project stretches under the various components of Bharatmala has been done based on detailed O-D(Origin-Destination) study, freight flow projections and verification of the identified infrastructure gaps through geo mapping, using data from Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG) as well as from other sources. This O-D study has also taken into account integration of economic corridors with the ongoing projects under NHDP and infrastructure asymmetry in major corridors.

In addition to Rs. 5,35,000 crore for Bharatmala Phase-I, there is a requirement of    Rs. 1,57,324 crore for ongoing schemes  like NH(O), SARDP-NE, EAP and LWE under implementation in the Highways Sector. Thus, the overall outlay for Bharatmala and all existing schemes put together will be Rs 6,92,324 crore over a period of 5 years.

Gross Budgetary Support for the Bharatmala program and existing schemes from 2017-18 to 2021--22 will be restricted to Rs. 2,37,024 crore from Central Road Fund (CRF), Rs 59,973 crore as Budgetary support, Rs. 34,000 crore from expected monetization through ToT route and Rs. 46,048 crore collected as Toll-Permanent Bridge Fee Fund (PBFF) by NHAI.

Projects under Bharatmala Phase-I are to be implemented through NHAI, NHIDCL, MoRTH and State PWDs. Provision has been made for effective delegation in appraisal /approval of individual project stretches. Effective delegation has been made in appraisal /approval of individual project stretches

1. All PPP BOT (Toll) projects where no grant (or VGF) is given to the concessionaire and the construction and maintenance is financed by toll revenues will be appraised and approved by the Board of NHAI.
2. All EPC projects implemented by NHAI will be approved by NHAI Board after proper appraisal, within the budgeted financial resources approved under this program.
3. NHAI Board will be authorized to suitably delegate its powers on appraisal and approval of projects within NHAI.

All projects implemented under Bharatmala are to be technically, financially and economically appraised by an empowered Project Appraisal &Technical Scrutiny Committee to be setup in NHAI and MoRTH.

The Committee would comprise experts from NITI Aayog, and would be a dedicated unit which would place its recommendations on appraisal of projects to NHAI Board or Secretary, MoRTH, as the case may be,

Guidelines have been laid down for scrutiny of individual projects which are to be followed by all implementing agencies

Grand Challenge’ mechanism is to be adopted to encourage State Government participation in implementation of the program. Projects that are supported by proactive effort by the concerned State Governments shall be taken up on priority basis.

A total of around 600 projects have been identified across the components for Bharatmala. DPR preparation for 19,500 kms is underway currently.

18-Oct-2017: NHAI to get power to speed up BharatMala programme

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to get the power to approve projects with a construction cost of more than Rs 1,000 crore to ensure faster implementation of the BharatMala programme. Currently, all highway projects that entail a construction cost of more than Rs 1,000 crore, excluding land, need to be approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

Under the proposal, only public private partnership (PPP) projects under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, where viability gap funding (VGF) is to be provided by the government, will need CCEA clearance.

BharatMala envisions 44 economic corridors across the country at a cost of at least Rs 5 lakh crore. The programme, along with the proposal to enhance NHAI’s powers, is likely to get Cabinet clearance soon.

The BharatMala corridors have been mapped as per traffic density and economic relevance of the cities that will be connected with the help of the Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics. The project involves constructing 24,000km of fresh highways. The project is aimed at speeding up cargo movement and the development of multimodal logistics hubs and parks on the periphery of major commercial centres.

The project includes construction of feeder routes alongside national highways. Around 80% of BharatMala will be based on a government funded, engineering procurement and construction (EPC) model while the rest will be a hybrid-annuity public private partnership.