Lok Sabha Question No. 4353 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-19
Subject: Expansion of NH Network
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Pritam Gopinath Munde, Chandra Sekhar Sahu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4353 ANSWERED ON 19 TH  MARCH, 2020

## EXPANSION OF NH NETWORK

## 4353.   DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE: SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

## Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government had decided six year back to make vast improvement in roads and to build new links to connect new areas in the hinterland, if so, the details thereof along with the targets achieved in this regard;

(b) whether many projects are not completed even after the revised target dates and if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the Government had identified about 123 district headquarters which were not linked to the National Highway (NH) network for development;

(d) if so, the number of such district headquarters linked to the NH network so far; and (e) the time by which the identified remaining district headquarters will be linked to the NH network?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

(a ) and (b) The Ministry had taken up detailed review of National Highways (NHs) network with a view to develop the road connectivity to Border areas, development of Coastal roads including road connectivity for Non-Major ports, improvement in the efficiency of National Corridors,  development  of  Economic  Corridors,  Inter  Corridors  and  Feeder  Routes  along with integration with Sagarmala, etc., under 'Bharatmala Pariyojana'. Under this proposal, the Ministry has identified stretches for development of about 26,200 km length of Economic Corridors,  8,000  km  of  Inter  Corridors,  7,500  km  of  Feeder  Routes,  5,300  km  Border  and International  connectivity  roads,  4,100  km  Coastal  and  Port  connectivity  roads,  1,900  km Expressways,  National  Corridor  Efficiency  improvement  by  development  of  ring  roads around  28  cities,  decongestion  of  about  125  choke  points  and  66  congestion  points, development of 35 nos. of Multimodal Logistics Parks.

The  Cabinet  Committee  on  Economic  Affairs  (CCEA)  approved  the  proposal  for investment  approval  for  Phase-I  of  'Bharatmala  Pariyojana'  during  its  meeting  held  on

24.10.2017.  'Bharatmala  Pariyojana'  Phase-I  includes  development  of  about  9,000  km length of Economic corridors, about 6,000 km length of Inter-corridor and feeder roads, about 5,000 km length of National Corridors Efficiency improvements, about 2,000 km length of Border  and  International  connectivity  roads,  about  2,000  km  length  of  Coastal  and  port connectivity roads, about 800 km length of Expressways and balance length of about 10,000 km  of  roads  under  National  Highways  Development  Project  (NHDP)  for  total  estimated investment  of  Rs.  5,35,000  crore.  The  overall  Financing  Plan  for  2017-18  to  2021-22  for Bharatmala Parioyojana Phase-I and other schemes under Central Road Sector envisages total investment of about Rs. 6,92,324 crores. The Phase-I of Bharatmala Parioyojana is scheduled for completion in 2021-22.

246 projects in about 10,100 km length for total cost of Rs. 2,38,413 crore have been awarded so far under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I including subsumed NHDP.

The  targets  and  achievements  for  completion  of  NHs  /  road  lengths  under  various NHs / road development schemes since 2017-18 are as follows.

| Year              | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-20                   |
|-------------------|-----------|-----------|---------------------------|
| Targets (km)      | 15,000    | 10,000    | 11,000                    |
| Achievements (km) | 9,829     | 10,855    | 7,925 (Till January 2020) |

Some NH projects are delayed due to multiple reasons, such as poor performance of contractor, utility shifting, delay in environment/ forest clearance, land acquisition, cash flow problem of the concessionaire/ contractor, law and order problems, etc.

Government holds regular review meetings at various levels with Regional Officers, State  Governments  and  Concessionaires/  Contractors  to  resolve  the  issues  and  ensure completion of projects within stipulated time. Further, various steps such as streamlining of land acquisition, one time fund infusion, close coordination with other Ministries, revamping of dispute resolution mechanism, etc. have been taken up.

(c) to (e) The Government had approved the proposal for declaration of about 7,200 km length  of  State  Roads  as  NHs  in  February,  2014  to  facilitate  connectivity  to  the  District Headquarters with the NHs and few stretches from the strategic consideration. Since then, about 11,870 km length of State Roads have been declared as NHs for providing connectivity to District Headquarters. 30 districts so far have not been linked through NHs .

The Ministry  considers  declaration  of  some  State  Roads  as  new  NHs  from  time  to time based on requirement of connectivity, inter-se priority and availability of funds.

The development and maintenance of NHs is a continuous process and works on NHs are, accordingly, taken up as per inter-se-priority, progress of ongoing works, availability of funds and traffic density.

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