Bharatmala Project Categories

Economic Corridors

Identified Highways Corridors of economic importance are expected to carry 25% of freight in the coming years. Once built, the National and Economic corridors along with their inter-corridor and feeder routes would be able to carry 80% of our freight traffic. Around 26,200 km of Economic corridors have been identified to be developed as Economic corridors out of which 9,000 kms are being taken up in Phase-I of Bharatmala.

Inter-corridor and feeder roads to National and Economic Corridors: Around 8,000 km of inter-corridor and around 7,500 km of feeder routes have been identified out of which 6,000 kms are being taken up in Phase-I of Bharatmala.

National Corridors Efficiency Improvement: The Golden-Quadrilateral and NS-EW, corridors carry 35% of India’s freight and would be declared as National corridors. The average traffic in the 6 national corridors is >30,000 PCU. The 6/8 laning of these corridors would be done as per need. The National Corridors have developed choke points impacting logistics efficiency. There is a requirement to build Ring Road and bypasses/elevated corridors in addition to lane expansion to decongest these National Corridors.

Further, Logistics Parks would also be developed at strategic locations to enhance logistics efficiency. Around 5,000 kms are being taken up under this category in Phase-I of Bharatmala.

Border and International Connectivity Roads: Around 3,300 km of border roads have been identified to be built along the international border for their strategic importance. Around 2,000 km of roads are required for connecting Indias major highway corridor to International trade points so as to facilitate Export-Import (EXIM) trade with our neighbors: Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Around 2,000 kms are being taken up under this category in Phase-I of Bharatmala.

Coastal and Port Connectivity Roads: Around 2,100 km of coastal roads have been identified to be built along the coast of India. These roads would boost both tourism and industrial development of the coastal region. Around 2,000 km of port connectivity roads have been identified to facilitate EXIM trade with an emphasis to improve connectivity to non-major ports. The roads identified have been synergized with the Sagarmala program. Around 2,000 kms are being taken up under this category in Phase-I of Bharatmala.

Green-field Expressways: Certain sections of National and economic corridors have traffic exceeding 50,000 PCUs and have also developed several choke points. About 1,900 km of these stretches have been identified for development as green-field expressways. Around 800 kms are being taken up under this category in Phase-I of Bharatmala.

Need for Bharatmala Programme

The National Highways Development Program (NHDP) has reached a certain level of maturity. It is now important to re-define road development and have a macro approach while planning expansion of the national highways network. The focus has to be on recasting road development by bridging critical infrastructure gaps. Hence, Bharatmala has been launched as a new umbrella program whose primary focus is on optimizing the efficiency of the movement of goods and people across the country.

• This program envisages a corridor approach in place of the existing package-based approach which has, in many cases, resulted in skewed development. For instance, in areas of high traffic, even upto 30,000 Passenger Carrying Units (PCUs), there are NH stretches of single and even intermediate lane. These have naturally become an impediment to seamless freight and passenger movement.
• The NH Network and ongoing programs - India has about 54.82 lakh km of road network, which is the second largest in the world in terms of length. National Highways (NHs) constitute about 2% of the total road network, but carry about 40% of the total road traffic.

National Highway Development Project

The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) was a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard. The project was started in 1998 under the leadership of then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This project is managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. The NHDP represents 49,260 km of roads and highways work and construction in order to boost economic development of the country.

• Phase I: Approved in December 2000, at an estimated cost of INR 300 Billion, it included the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ), portions of the NS-EW Corridors, and connectivity of major ports to National Highways.
• Phase II: Approved in December 2003, at an estimated cost of INR 343 Billion, it included the completion of the NS-EW corridors and another 486 km (302 mi) of highways.
• Phase IIIA: This phase was approved in March 2005, at an estimated cost of INR 222 Billion, it includes an upgrade to 4-lanes of 4,035 km (2,507 mi) of National Highways.
• Phase IIIB: This was approved in April 2006, at an estimated cost of INR 543 Billion, it includes an upgrade to 4-lanes of 8,074 km (5,017 mi) of National Highways.
• Phase V: Approved in October 2006, it includes upgrades to 6-lanes for 6,500 km (4,000 mi), of which 5,700 km (3,500 mi) is on the GQ. This phase is entirely on a Design, Build, Finance and operate (DBFO) basis.
• Phase VI: This phase, approved in November 2006, will develop 1,000 km (620 mi) of expressways at an estimated cost of INR 167 Billion.
• Phase VII: This phase, approved in December 2007, will develop ring-roads, bypasses and flyovers to avoid traffic bottlenecks on selected stretches at a cost of INR 167 Billion.

National Highways Investment Promotion Cell (NHIPC)

The National Highways Authority of India has created a National Highways Investment Promotion Cell (NHIPC) for attracting domestic and foreign investment for highways projects. The cell will focus on engaging with global institution investors, construction companies, developers and fund managers for building investor participation in road infrastructure projects.

The primary focus of NHIPC will be to promote foreign and domestic investment in road infrastructure. The NHIPC will be working in close co-ordination with various connected Ministries and Departments of Government of India, State Governments, Apex Business Chambers like CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, and InvestIndia, etc. NHIPC will also work in close co-ordination with Foreign Embassies and Missions in India and Indian Embassies and Missions situated in foreign countries.

National Highways Authority of India

• The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is an autonomous agency of the Government of India, responsible for management of a network of over 50,000 km of National Highways out of 1,15,000 km in India.
• It is a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• The NHAI was created through the promulgation of the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988. In February 1995, the Authority was formally made an autonomous body.

Green Highways Policy

• The Centre in September 2015 launched the Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification & Maintenance) Policy, 2015.
• The aim of the policy is to promote greening of Highway corridors with participation of the community, farmers, private sector, NGOs, and government institutions.
• 1% of the total project cost of all highways projects will be kept aside for the highway plantation and its maintenance.
• About Rs. 1000 crore per year will be available for plantation purpose.
• There will be strong monitoring mechanism in place by using ISRO’s Bhuvan and GAGAN satellite systems. Every planted tree will be counted and auditing will be done.
• The Green Highway Policy will help in making India pollution free. It will also help in curtailing the number of road accidents in India.
• The National Forest Policy envisages 33% of the geographical area should be under forest or tree cover, but the notified forest cover is only about 22%. The implementation of new Green Highways Policy can help in bridging this gap.