Govt clears BharatMala road connectivity project: Key facts

The project is part of the government's plan on point-to-point expressways and border road connectivity.

New Delhi: In a major boost to road connectivity in India, the government on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to the ambitious BharatMala project which envisages to lay a whopping more than 83,000 km of roads across the country.

Here are the key facts of the project:

1. Rs 5,35,000 cores will be invested under the BharatMala project for construction of 34,800 km, while the balance works of 48,877 km would be built under other schemes with an outlay of Rs.1.57 lakhs cr. 

2. The focus is on point-to-point expressways, border connectivity and international connectivity.

3. In the first phase of the project, about 2,000 km of coastal roads will be constructed.

4. The funding for the project will be raised from markets (Rs.2.09 lakh crore), pvt. investments (Rs. 1.06 lakh crore), and CRF/ToT/Toll (Rs.2.19 lakhs cr.)

5. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will also be part of the project and will raise 0.97 lakhs cr. from CRF and 0.59 lakhs cr. from budgetary support.

6. As part of the project, 82 highways will be 'monetized' with an investment potential of Rs 34,000 cr.

7. According to the government, the first bundle of 9 National Highway stretches of 680.64 km has already been bid out with a monetization value of Rs 6258 cr.