New Delhi : The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to develop around 1,900 km of roads as green-field expressways out of which 800 km will be taken up in the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I.

According to officials, certain sections of national and economic corridors have traffic exceeding 50,000 PCUs and have also developed several choke points and some stretches have been identified to be developed as green-field expressways.

The green-field expressways will enable high speed and seamless freight and passenger movement.

On Tuesday the Cabinet gave approval to the programme in which a total of around 24,800 km is being considered with an estimated outlay of Rs 5,35,000 crores spread over five years.

The objective is optimal resource allocation for a holistic highway development initiative. 

The components of the Phase-I are Economic corridor development, Inter-corridor and feeder roads, National corridor efficiency, Border and international connectivity roads, Coastal and port connectivity roads and Expressways.

In addition to the above, around 2,100 km of coastal roads and 2000 km of port connectivity roads have been identified under Bharatmala of which 2,000 kms are being taken up under Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore. About 1,900 km of stretches have been identified for development of green-field expressways of which around 800 kms will be taken up under Phase-I of the programme at an estimated cost of Rs.40,000 crore. The 10,000 km of balance road work under NHDP will be completed at a cost of Rs 1,50,000 crore.

Grand Challenge mechanism is to be adopted to encourage State Government participation in implementation of the program. Projects that are supported by proactive effort by the concerned State Governments shall be taken up on priority basis.

A total of around 600 projects have been identified across the components for Bharatmala. DPR preparation for 19,500 kms is underway currently.