The next phase of highway development in India will focus on building expressways which allow uninterrupted traffic flow. Under the second phase of Bharatmala, the government has proposed to build nearly 3,000 km of expressways, including Aurangabad-Ahmadnagar-Pune, Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata, Indore-Mumbai, Bengaluru-Pune and Chennai-Trichy.
As per reports coming in, Govt. of India has committed 4000 kms of Greenfield roads, under which 3000 kms will be Greenfield, that is fresh, and new highways. The government has notified higher speed limit for cars at a maximum of 120 kmph on expressways. Till now, highway construction has largely seen expansion and widening of existing roads.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which is spearheading the project has already announced tenders which contractors can bid. Under Bharatmala Project, Govt. has declared that Rs 5.35 lakh crore would be spent on building 83,000 kms of expressways, and highways, all across the country.
This is part of National Highways Development Project (NHDP), which was launched by late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998.
Bharatmala 2.0: The Routes
Under Bharatmala 2.0, whose detailed project reports have already been shared with the Govt. by NHAI, the follwing cities will be connected with new high speed expressways:
Pune – Ahmednagar – Aurangabad (220 kms)
Varanasi – Ranchi – Kolkata (650 kms)
Indore – Mumbai (515 kms)
Pune – Bengaluru (745 kms)
Kharagpur – Kolkata (120 kmks)
