India's road network is the second largest in the world, with a total estimated length of 54.82 lakh km as of 2017. National Highways account for just around 2% of this network, but their share of the total road traffic is around 40%.

Bharatmala Pariyojana is a macro and corridor-based approach to road development which caters to expansion as well as plugging of the existing infrastructure gaps. The Government of India announced that highway works worth Rs 8 lakh crore will be taken up before the end of 2018 under Bharatmala. The first phase of implementation is planned for a five-year period from 2017-18 to 2021-22, and will target development of 24,800 km of road network apart from completion of 10,000 km of ongoing road works under NHDP. Phase 1 is expected to be implemented at a projected total cost of Rs 5,35,000 crore.

Furthermore, in Phase 1, the Government has identified 26,200 km of Economic Corridors with high levels of freight traffic. Development of around 9,000 km of Economic Corridors is targeted under Phase 1. Apart from these, the programme covers improvements/construction works pertaining to the National Corridor (Golden Quadrilateral and NS-EW), Inter-Corridors (8,000 km), Feeder Roads (7,500 km), Border Roads (3,300 km), Coastal & Port Connectivity Roads (3,305 km) and Expressways (1,837 km). Ring roads are proposed to be developed around 28 major cities across the country under Bharatmala Pariyojana.

Impact:

• Bharatmala Pariyojana will have a huge impact on the Logistics Performance Index and be a major driver of economic growth in the country. It will increase the number of national corridors to 50 as opposed to 6 currently.
• Number of districts with national highway (NH) linkages will increase to 550 from 300 at present
• The share of national highways in freight movement will increase from 40% currently to 70-80% after the implementation of Bharatmala.
• According to Government projections, around 142 million man-days of employment are anticipated under Phase 1 of Bharatmala Pariyojana. Furthermore, the increase in level of economic activities generated by the development of the economic corridor network is expected to drive around 22 Million permanent jobs.

References:

• http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=171930
• http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=181401
• http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=177504
• http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=181091

Last updated: September, 2018