The NDA government is going ahead in full-force to achieve near completion of almost 200 road projects by March 2019. The projects have been pegged at a worth of ₹1.5 lakh crore; and these highway developments are going to be the current central government’s showcase of biggest achievement in the infrastructure sector.
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways intends to utilize this year and the early months of 2019 and will rope-in PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate at least 50 strategically important highway projects.
Speculations are being made about the kind of impact such a large scale movement in infrastructure would have on the Indian economy. In a span of eight to ten months, these projects are likely to raise innumerable employment opportunities for a huge pocket of the population. Incidentally, employment is likely to be one of the key issues that the NDA will raise during the general elections next year.
The transport ministry has simultaneously drawn up a list of 416 ongoing projects estimated at ₹3.26 lakh crore that are being overseen by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and are at various stages of completion. The current government is aiming at proudly being able to claim a completed highway project in almost every constituency in India. According to the list drawn up by the ministry, the state of Maharashtra has the highest number of projects–52 worth ₹38,029 crore, with the next three slots filled by 45 projects in Uttar Pradesh worth ₹37,926 crore, 28 in Rajasthan at ₹21,292 crore, and 27 projects in Gujarat worth ₹24,098 crore. All these states are currently under the governance of BJP which leads the NDA.
Like the previous NDA government in 1999-2004, the Modi government is looking at road construction as a top priority. The government has set a target for itself to build almost 45km of roads per day between 2018 and 2019. The overall budgetary allocation for highways has gone up from ₹32,000 crore to ₹71,000 crore.
Last October the NDA government had approved the budget for the ₹6.92 lakh crore Bharatmala project which included the development cost for highways running through economic corridors, border and coastal areas, and expressways.