Bharatmala Project is the second largest highways construction project in the country since National Highway Development Project (NHDP). Bharatmala aims to improve connectivity particularly on economic corridors, border areas and far flung areas. It also aims to ensure quicker movement of cargo and boost exports.
The project is expected to create nearly 100 million man days of jobs during the road construction and subsequently 22 million jobs as a result of the increased economic activity across the country. The construction funding of the project includes debt funds, budgetary allocation, private investment, toll operator transfer model etc.
Bharatmala includes:
- Economic corridors of around 9,000 km,
- Inter-corridor and feeder routes of around 6,000 km,
- Roads under the National Corridors Efficiency Program of 5,000 km,
- Border and international connectivity roads of around 2,000 km,
- Coastal and port connectivity roads of around 2,000 km,
- Expressways of around 800 km and 10,000 km of NHDP roads.
Bharatmala project will start in Gujarat and Rajasthan, followed by Punjab and subsequently traversing the Himalayan belt through Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur (next to the Indo-Burmese border) and then to Mizoram. Northeastern states have been given special focus in the project. Also, international trade is an integrative key aspect of the project. The main agencies tasked with the construction are the National Highways Authority of India, National Highway and Industrial Development Corporation and state public works departments.
