Highway project to get delayed by 5 years: Govt

The government’s flagship programme for national highways, Bharatmala Pariyojana (BMP) Phase-I, — initially proposed to be completed by 2022 — will now be completed by 2027 and owing to the five-year delay, the estimated project cost has doubled from ₹5.35 lakh crore to ₹10.63 lakh crore.

This information was furnished by the Union ministry of road transport and highways before the Parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, which presented its latest report on road infrastructure in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

NHAI chairperson Alka Upadhyaya said that all the works under the BMP-Phase 1 will be awarded latest by 2024. “Our award position has improved this year (2021-22) and the same momentum will continue in the financial year 2022-23.” A senior transport official said the delay occurred due to Covid-19 as it became difficult to get the workers back to sites for two years.