After the completion of the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I by 2028-29, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is expecting to collect Rs 1.25 lakh crore from user fee and monetisation of national highways – three times more than it was in 2022-23.
Ministry documents, seen by News18, show that the government earned Rs 41,300 crore from toll collections and monetisation of national highways. Interestingly, in 2013-14, this figure was only Rs 4,770 crore.
Speaking to News18, a Ministry official said that close to 35,000 km national highways are approved under Phase-1 of Bharatmala Pariyojana.
“Works of more than 26,000 km have been awarded for construction costing Rs 8.24 lakh crore. Work is completed on about 14,000 km, rest of the work will be completed by 2027-28,” they said, demanding anonymity.
WHAT IS BHARATMALA PARIYOJANA?
Bharatmala Pariyojana was approved by the Centre in 2017 and is expected to cost Rs 5.35 lakh crore. It is an initiative where efficiency of road traffic flow will improve across the country. The Ministry will be bridging crucial infrastructure gaps with this project.
“Different categories of projects will be developed under this scheme including economic corridors, inter-corridor and feeder routes. It also included border and international connectivity roads,” the official added.
At the end of the last financial year, 24,837 km of work was awarded and 11,789 km of work was completed.
Of the total 34,800 km of the Bharatmala project, the highest share is of Madhya Pradesh (3,176 km), followed by Maharashtra (3,018 km) and Uttar Pradesh (3,014 km). Andhra Pradesh (2,515 km), Rajasthan (2,503 km) and Tamil Nadu (2,414 km) are next in line.
In at least 12 states, the length of the project is above 1,500 km, these also include: Karnataka (2,070 km; Punjab (1,764 km); Telangana (1,728 km); Odisha (1,586 km); Gujarat (1,576 km) and Bihar (1,572 km)
POLL-BOUND RAJASTHAN FASTEST IN BUILDING ROADS
Madhya Pradesh has the longest planned route, but Rajasthan has taken over all other states in the length of approved and awarded work of 2,409 km. It has completed 2,032 km, the Ministry data shows. As of July 2023, only 94-km-long projects are left under the Bharatmala Pariyojana for the poll bound Rajasthan.
On the other hand, smaller states such as Assam, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura have awarded the entire stretch of the project. Except Manipur and Mizoram, all these states have less than 500 km of the project.
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