Execution holds the key

Bharatmala is a welcome but challenging initiative

The Union Cabinet’s go-ahead to India’s most ambitious highway construction programme should go a long way towards improving connectivity, not just to the coastal and border areas but to backward areas as well. Under the umbrella plan, called Bharatmala, the government intends to develop 83,677 km of highways and roads at an investment of around Rs 7 lakh crore over the next five years. In the first phase, the plan is to construct 34,800 km of highways at a cost of Rs 5.35 lakh crore. Given the massive forward and backward linkages that road construction has, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari expects Bharatmala as well as other projects under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) to potentially generate 10 million jobs and result in a 3 per cent bump-up in the gross domestic product. In the Bharatmala programme, the focus on economic corridors (9,000 km) is expected to ensure that investments are targeted at economic returns. The ambitious project also plans to create new industrial corridors and urban centres, which should enhance economic activity in the country. 

Bharatmala will include state highways, national highways, and some state roads. Against the 300 districts that are linked to national highways at present, Bharatmala will connect 550 more to the national grid. The government also expects that 70-80 per cent of freight traffic will move on national highways, up from 40 per cent now. In that sense, the Bharatmala will be a flagship programme for this National Democratic Alliance government just as the NHDP was for the its predecessor under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

But the NHDP’s execution suffered due to problems of funding and delays in approval and execution. To achieve dramatic changes, the government will have to improve its execution skills manifold. For example, the speed of road construction will have to almost double from the existing 23 km a day to 40 km in order to achieve the first phase target. But typically, governments in the past have struggled with several operational issues such as land acquisition and other approvals. In fact, Mr Gadkari will have to work closely with state governments for this plan to reach fruition. To speed up the process of approvals, however, the government has done something very sensible by doing away with the need for securing Cabinet approvals for Bharatmala projects. This means that the National Highways Authority of India is now empowered to approve all engineering, procurement and construction projects. 

The other big concern is about funding. Though Mr Gadkari is planning to depend more on government funding, as much as 15 per cent of the total investment is expected from the private sector. Given the patchy record of public-private partnership schemes in India, it is anybody’s guess whether the private sector will be enthused to put in money. Big construction companies such as Larsen & Toubro, GMR and GVK have been missing from auctions for highway projects. To rope them in, the government will have to draw a definitive road map for timely completion, fund mobilisation as well as streamline other bottlenecks in the form of land acquisition.