The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) proposes to forward a note to the Union cabinet for taking up the second phase of ‘Bharatamala Pariyojana’. MoRTH intends to build over 5,000 km of expressways and highways at a cost of around Rs three trillion.
The preparation of detailed project reports (DPRs) for various projects under Bharatmala Phase-II has been accelerated to allow for timely construction of projects
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has proposed to issue tenders for the road projects under phase-II in the first half of FY24.
The second phase under consideration envisages the construction of six key expressways totalling 2,560 km. This includes the 515 km Indore-Mumbai expressway which will also connect with the under-construction Mumbai-Delhi expressway, the 650 km Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata expressway and the 745-km long Pune-Bengaluru expressway.
Also included are the Kharagpur-Kolkata expressway, Pune-Ahmednagar- Aurangabad expressway and Chennai-Tiruchirappalli expressway.
The simultaneous implementation of phase-II projects will help in operationalising the remaining projects under phase-I, which is now scheduled to be completed by 2027.