JOIN USThe Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is planning to spend Rs 2.67 lakh crore under its ambitious Bharatmala project to improve the road network in the country mainly border and coastal areas.
“Bharatmala is a proposed umbrella scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 2,67,200 crore” the Economic Survey for 2015-16 tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
Under the scheme, the government wanted to develop roads in backward region, port connecting roads, religious places, tourist places. The government aims to complete the task by 2022.
The survey said the government will spend Rs 80,250 crore on development 7,000 km of state roads along coastal areas or border areas, including connectivity of non-major ports. For backward areas, religious and tourist places connectivity it will spend Rs 85,250 crore on augmenting another 7,000 km, it said. On “Setubhratam Pariyojana which is for the construction of about 1,500 major bridges and 200 road over bridges/ road under bridges”, government will spend Rs 30,000 crore.
Under district head quarter connectivity scheme, the government will develop about 9,000 km newly declared highways with the expenditure of Rs 60,000 crore, it said.Besides Bharatmala, the government said it has approved a scheme for the development of about 1,177 km of National Highways (NHs) and 4276 km of state roads in Left wing extremism - affected areas as a special project with an estimated cost of about Rs 7,300 crore.
With about 52.32 lakh km of road network comprising NHs, state highways and other roads, India has the second largest road network in the world.