Bharatmala Phase I Reaches 90% Completion, Rajasthan Emerges Top Performer.

Rajasthan has emerged as one of the top-performing states in the execution of the Centre’s Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I, completing 96 per cent of the highway network awarded under the programme, according to data presented in the Lok Sabha.

In a written reply to a question raised by Churu MP Rahul Kaswan on July 23, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that 2,264 km of the 2,360 km of highways awarded in Rajasthan under Bharatmala Phase I had been completed. Only 96 km of the sanctioned network remains under construction.

At the national level, 22,709 km of the 26,425 km of highways awarded under Bharatmala Phase I have been completed. Approved in 2017, the ambitious highway development programme aims to construct 34,800 km of roads at an estimated investment of ₹5.35 lakh crore.

Among states with the highest length of highways awarded under Bharatmala Phase I, Uttar Pradesh leads with 2,495 km, followed by Rajasthan at 2,360 km, Maharashtra at 2,174 km, Madhya Pradesh at 2,017 km and Andhra Pradesh at 1,936 km. However, Rajasthan has recorded the highest completion rate, ahead of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

The state has also witnessed a sharp rise in new highway approvals. During 2025-26, the Centre sanctioned 508 km of national highway projects worth ₹9,222 crore, compared with 238 km worth ₹3,154 crore in 2024-25 and 77 km costing ₹859 crore in 2023-24.

Besides Bharatmala projects, 36 national highway projects covering 600.8 km are currently under construction in Rajasthan. Over the last three years, 63 projects spanning 2,178 km have been completed in the state.

The Centre also cited an impact assessment by the Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru, which found that Bharatmala projects have helped reduce logistics costs, improve market connectivity, reduce travel time to essential services such as schools and hospitals, and support growth in household incomes and economic activity.

Raising concerns over road capacity, Kaswan said several key highway stretches in Rajasthan, including Jaipur-Sikar, Jaipur-Kishangarh and Jaipur-Kota, were already facing congestion and accident risks due to traffic exceeding their designed capacity. He stressed the need for proactive expansion planning rather than waiting for highways to become saturated.

The ministry said delays in some projects were due to issues including land acquisition, forest and environmental clearances, utility shifting, encroachments, shortage of construction materials and contractor-related challenges. It added that measures such as digitisation of land acquisition through the Bhoomi Rashi portal, streamlined environmental approvals through the Parivesh portal, and enhanced monitoring through the Prime Minister’s PRAGATI platform and the Project Monitoring Group were being used to speed up implementation.