The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has awarded a total of 322 projects in a length of 12,413 km under Bharatmala Pariyojana till August, 2020 despite Covid-19 challenges.
Apart from this, total 2,921 km of highways have been constructed under the project till August end, said the ministry.
“Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella programme for the highways sector with focussing on the development of economic corridors, inter corridors and feeder routes, national corridor efficiency improvement, border and international connectivity roads, coastal and port connectivity roads and greenfield expressways,” said a statement from the ministry.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I along with other programmes on October 2017. Under the scheme, a total of around 34,800 km highways will be developed including 10,000 km of balance road works under the National Highways Development Project. As per the initial plan, the total estimated investment in the Pariyojana was Rs 5.35 lakh crore in five years from 2017.
Recently, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) agreed to implement various suggestions made by different industry bodies towards improving national highways.
In March 2020, NHAI disbursed Rs 10,000 crore through online payments and ensured that no payment pending due to closure of office during the lockdown. In the first quarter of 2020-21, NHAI disbursed more than Rs 15,000 crore to the vendors, it said adding that additionally, steps such as monthly payment to the contractors were taken to ensure cash flow to them.