Bharatmala Pariyojana not paused, master plan of National Highways to boost logistics ready : Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI : The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Thursday informed the Lok Sabha that it has not suspended its flagship scheme Bharatmala Pariyojana, adding that a cumulative length of 26,425 km of highways has been awarded under it and 18,180 km has been completed.

Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari, while responding to Coimbatore MP K Subbarayan and Nagapattinam MP Selvaraj V, said that MoRTH has prepared the Master Plan of National Highways to improve the logistics with the provision of expressway and high-speed corridors.

The two MPs had asked Gadkari if the project awarded under Bharatmala-1 and Bharatmala-2 had been suspended and replaced by a new scheme Vision 2047 to which the minister replied, “No”.

“Under Bharatmala Pariyojana projects with cumulative length of 26,425 km have been awarded and 18,180 km has been completed. Balance length is under implementation at various stages,” the minister said.

Shri Gadkari added that going forward, the Master Plan of National Highways to improve the logistics with the provision of expressway/high-speed corridors and other roads has been prepared with the PM GatiShakti Framework using a transportation model with analysis of data of e-way bills (GST), toll and traffic survey. Under this, the ministry will focus on access-controlled roads.