BHARATMALA HIGHWAY PROGRAMME (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: The Bharatmala highway development programme is set for an early withdrawal, as the government looks to ramp up its road-construction plan and align it with a more ambitious Vision 2047 that envisages building up to 50,000km of access-controlled highways and expressways.

Bharatmala Highway Development Programme

• About: Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella program for the highways sector envisaged by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways that focuses on optimizing the efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country.
• The first phase aimed:  To construct 34,800km of highways that would link several of the existing road infrastructure while providing better connectivity to various industrial corridors.
• The phase 2 of the programme: It involving construction of over 5,000km of access-controlled highways with a total investment of about ₹3 trillion was expected in 2023.
• Objectives: To enhance the efficiency of freight and passenger movement nationwide, addressing critical infrastructure gaps is crucial.

oEffective interventions encompass the development of economic corridors, inter-corridors, feeder routes, national corridor efficiency improvement, border and international connectivity roads, coastal and port connectivity roads, and the establishment of greenfield expressways.

• Greenfield Projects Unleashing Creativity: These projects are undertaken on completely vacant sites, providing architects with unrestricted creative freedom as they commence development from scratch.
• Brownfield Project: In contrast, brownfield projects come with constraints tied to the current state of the site. Architects may need to contend with contamination or existing structures, necessitating modifications or demolitions before progressing with the project.