Infrastructure development has been a thrust area of the Central Government. Several initiatives have been taken to give a fillip to the infrastructure of the Country. The recently launched “PM GatiShakti” or the National Master Plan (NMP) is one such intervention aimed at bringing in holistic planning and development across the Country. All economic zones and infrastructure developments depicted on a single integrated platform will provide spatial visibility of physical linkages to promote comprehensive and integrated multi-modal national network of transportation and logistics with the aim to enhance ease of living, ease of doing business, minimize disruptions and expedite cost efficient completion of works.
In this backdrop, the flagship programme — “Bharatmala Pariyojana” — of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) is set to be a milestone as far as development of Highway infrastructure in the Country is concerned.
Under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I, the Ministry has envisioned development of about 9,000 km Economic Corridor, 6,000 km Inter-corridor and feeder routes, 5,000 km National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, 2,000 km Border & International connectivity roads, 2,000 km Coastal & Port connectivity roads, 800 km Expressways and 10,000 km residual NHDP stretches.
Till now, 571 projects with an aggregate length of 19,785 km and a total cost of Rs 593,820 crore have been approved, while 536 projects with an aggregate length of 18,782 km and a total cost of Rs 533, 076 crore have been awarded.
Under Phase – I of the Pariyojana, the Ministry plans to develop 22 Greenfield Expressways and Access Controlled Corridors. These 22 Greenfield projects of 8,000 km length are expected to cost Rs 3.26 Lakh crore. These are envisaged as the key to improving logistics efficiency by providing seamless connectivity between centres of production and consumption of industrial and MSME products in the country. Additionally, they will help in faster movement of passenger and freight traffic in the country. These Greenfield projects are as follows:
1. Delhi-Mumbai Expressway: The Golden Quadrilateral Corridor of NH 8 between Delhi and Mumbai has become one of the busiest corridors in the country because of the significance of the two cities as well as industrial belts across states like Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Therefore, there is a need for improved infrastructure to realize the economic opportunities of this region. This 1351 km long Expressway, which is being built with an estimated cost of Rs 90,000 crore, will enhance connectivity between India’s national capital and its financial capital and reduce the travel time from 24 to 12 hours. It will be India’s longest Expressway, which will also improve connectivity of Delhi and Mumbai with emerging hubs of Ajmer, Ujjain, Kota, Kishangarh and Ratlam. This Expressway is expected to contribute Rs 200,000 crore to India’s GDP. The Expressway, targeted to be completed in January 2023, will have 8 lanes with option to expand to 12 lanes in future. A significant feature of this project is its Greenfield alignment to avoid habitation and optimize cost of land acquisition. Also the Expressway is access controlled with pay per use close tolling concept. Besides, wayside amenities and cargo facilities have been planned at every half hour.
1.1. Delhi-Vadodara Expressway: This is a 845 km long corridor, which is being built at a total capital cost of Rs 42,165 crore. Till now, 30 packages of 812 km highways have been awarded at a cost of Rs 40,016 crore.
1.2. Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway: This Expressway consists of 446 km long corridor, being built at a total capital cost of Rs 45,835 crore. Out of this, 13 packages of 55 km highways have been awarded at a cost of Rs 30,955 crore.
1.3. Delhi-Faridabad-Sohna: This is a 60 km spur to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway Stretch, which has already been awarded and is to be constructed at a total capital cost of Rs 5,333 crore.
2. Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway: This complete 109 km long Expressway has already been awarded and is being constructed at a total capital cost of Rs 4,192 crore. This Expressway will provide connectivity between Ahmedabad, Dholera SIR and Dholera Airport.
3. Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway: The 672 km long Expressway is being developed at a capital cost of Rs 37,775 crore. This will help in enhanced connectivity between Delhi, key economic hubs of Punjab like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and the religious city of Katra.
4. Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway: This 262 km long Expressway will be built at a total capital cost of Rs 15,176 crore. The complete corridor is expected to be made operational and open to traffic by May 2024.
5. Kanpur-Lucknow Expressway: The 63 km long Kanpur – Lucknow Expressway will be built at a total capital cost of Rs 4,183 crore. This corridor will help de-congest the existing stretch and reduce travel time between the two major cities of Uttar Pradesh from 2.5 hours to 50 minutes.
6. Ambala-Kotputli Corridor: The complete 313 km long Ambala – Kotputli corridor is awarded at a total capital cost of Rs 11,375 crore. Once complete, the corridor will provide seamless connectivity from Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Ambala to Mumbai and Kandla / Mundra bypassing the congested NH 44 section of Ambala and Delhi.
7. Chennai-Salem Corridor: This 277 km flagship, access-controlled corridor from Chennai to Salem, will be constructed at a total capital cost of Rs 9,681 crore. The complete corridor is targeted to be open for traffic by September 2024.
8. Amritsar-Bhatinda-Jamnagar: The 917 km section of the 1,224 km long Amritsar-Bhatinda Jamnagar corridor will be built at a total capital cost of Rs 22,543 crore. This corridor will provide connectivity between several economic hubs in Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
9. Durg-Raipur-Arang: This 92 km long corridor connecting Durg-Raipur-Arang will be developed at a total capital cost of Rs 2,689 crore.
10. Raipur-Vishakhapatnam: The 465 km long Raipur-Vishakhapatnam corridor will be built at a total capital cost of Rs 14,695 crore. Out of this, seven packages of 200 km highways have been awarded at a cost of Rs 5,790 crore.
11. Chitoor-Thatchur Corridor: This 116 km long Chittoor – Thatchur corridor is to be built at a total capital cost of Rs 3,997 crore. Once completed, the corridor will boost connectivity between the industrial belts between Chennai and Bengaluru.
12. Urban Extension Road (UER) II: The 75 km long UER II is planned to be constructed at a total capital cost of Rs 7,495 crore. Both the packages are under bidding.
13. Delhi-Dehradun Corridor: Developed as part of the 210 km corridor, with 169 km of Greenfield section, the corridor is being constructed at a capital cost of Rs 10,294 crore. Five packages of 50 km highways have been awarded with a total capital cost of Rs 4,768 crore.
14. Bengaluru-Satellite Ring Road (STRR): This 281 km Bengaluru- Satellite Ring Road is to be built at a total capital cost of Rs 14,337 crore. Two packages of 80 km length have been awarded at a capital cost of Rs 2,689 crore. The road will connect more than 10 towns in Bengaluru’s peripheries.
15. Surat-Ahmednagar Solapur: The 641 km long corridor is built at a total capital cost of Rs 28,212 crore. Three packages of 121 km highways have been awarded at a cost of Rs 3,104 crore.
16. Solapur-Kurnool Corridor: This 335 km long Solapur-Kurnool corridor is expected to be built at a total capital cost of Rs 12,859 crore. Till now, 38 km length of projects have been awarded at a total capital cost of Rs 1,123 crore.
17. Kharagpur-Siliguri (Till Morgram): This 235 km long Kharagpur – Siliguri corridor is expected to be built at a total capital cost of Rs 5,671 crore. The corridor is targeted to be awarded by Financial Year 2023 with target date for completion as March 2026 for opening to public traffic.
18. Indore-Hyderabad Corridor: The 687 km long Indore-Hyderabad Corridor is expected to be built at a total capital cost of Rs 15,014 crore. As many as nine packages of 407 km have been awarded at a total capital cost of Rs 10,001 crore.
19. Hyderabad (Suryapet)-Vishakhapatnam (Devarpalle) Corridor: The 222 km long Hyderabad-Vishakhapatnam Corridor is expected to be constructed at a total capital cost of Rs 5,583 crore. Till now, one package of 59 km has been awarded with a total capital cost of Rs 2,032 crore.
20. Kota–Indore (Garoth – Ujjain): This 135 km long corridor from Kota to Indore is expected to be built at a total capital cost of Rs 1,887 crore. The complete corridor is planned to be open for public traffic by March 2024.
21. Hyderabad-Raipur Corridor: This 330 km long Hyderabad-Raipur Corridor is expected to be constructedat a cost of Rs 8,737 crore. The proposed corridor will reduce the travel distance by over 180 km and hence reducing the travel time by 2 – 3 hours.
22. Nagpur-Vijayawada Corridor: This Nagpur-Vijayawada Corridor is 405 km long access-controlled stretch, which is planned to be constructed at an overall capital cost of Rs 14,666 crore. This 95 km stretch has been awarded at a total capital cost of INR 2,858 crore.
Source : Highway To Growth
