Bharatmala Pariyojana gives impetus to road infrastructure in country
Apr 22, 2023
New Delhi [India], April 22 : Nearly 50,000 kilometres of National Highways have been added in the last nine years and the pace of construction has gone up from 12 to 29 km/day since 2014, a bulletin issued by I&B Ministry said on Saturday.
"India has about 63.73 lakh km of road network, the second largest in the world. As a part of Bharatmala Pariyojana, India's largest expressway the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway which is 1,386 km long, is being developed, and the Delhi - Dausa - Lalsot section of the expressway has already been dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi", reads the statement.
The statement further stated, "National Highways play a very important role in the economic and social development of the country by enabling efficient movement of freight and passengers, connecting people and facilitating economic activities."
According to the statement by the I&B Ministry, the Government of India has implemented multiple initiatives in the last 9 years to augment the capacity of the National Highway infrastructure in the country.
"The pace of National Highways (NH) construction has increased consistently between 2014-15 and 2021-22 due to the systematic push through corridor-based National Highway development approach. In 2014-15, the pace of NH construction was about 12 km/ day, which increased to about 29 km/ day in 2021-22", the statement added.
Reportedly, the Bharatmala Pariyojana was launched with the primary focus on optimizing the efficiency of the movement of goods and people across the country.
According to a press statement released by the I&B Ministry, Phase I of the Bharatmala Pariyojana approved in October 2017, focuses on bridging critical infrastructure gaps through the development of 34,800 km of National Highways.
"The Pariyojana emphasized a "corridor-based National Highway development" to ensure infrastructure symmetry and consistent road user experience. The key components of the Pariyojana are Economic Corridors development, Inter-corridor and feeder routes development, National Corridors Efficiency Improvement, Border and International Connectivity Roads, Coastal and Port Connectivity Roads and Expressways", reads the statement.
