Total expenditure under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I till now stand at ₹4.10 lakh crore, says Nitin Gadkari

A total expenditure of ₹4.10 lakh crore has been made under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I (BPP-I) as on October 31, 2023, and the difference in actual and normative cost is due to increase in cost of raw material and land acquisition, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has made observation about the increase in cost of Phase I of the pariyojana.

"As on October 31, 2023, the total expenditure (under BPP-I) is about Rs 4.10 lakh crore...There has been no diversion of funds from other schemes in the execution of BPP-I," he said. According to Gadkari, certain BPP-I projects were earlier planned under other schemes of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRT&H) viz, externally aided project (EAP), National Highways Original works NH(O), and SARDP scheme, which were subsequently prioritized under BPP-I as per the network planning.

"The difference in actual project cost and normative cost under Bharatmala Pariyojana is due to increase in cost of raw material, increased land acquisition cost, construction of high speed corridors and increase in GST rates etc," he said. In 2017, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved BPP-I entailing development of 34,800 km of National Highway corridors with total outlay of Rs 5.35 lakh crore.