New Delhi: The projects under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, which were put on hold in November 2023, will now be directly awarded by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Projects with a cost of less than Rs. 1,000 crore will be awarded in the coming months, as per a senior official. The government aims to expedite the award of road contracts that were delayed significantly this fiscal year, mainly due to the pause in the Bharatmala project caused by cost escalation.
The ministry is currently inviting bids for some of the pending projects and preparing detailed project reports for others. The government had initially planned to build 34,800 km of highways under the Bharatmala scheme in 2017, with an estimated expenditure of Rs. 6,92,324 crore. However, only 27,391 km of highways with a total capital cost of Rs. 8,75,774 crore have been approved and awarded under phase I so far.
