Cabinet okays fourth phase of rural roads scheme with outlay of Rs 70k cr

62,500 km of new roads to be built to connect 25,000 habitations over the next 5 years from FY25

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the fourth phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the flagship rural roads programme, with an estimated outlay of around Rs 70,125 crore spread over the next five years.

In total, around 62,500 kilometers of rural roads will be constructed during this phase, with fresh connectivity to 25,000 unconnected habitations and also construct and upgrade bridges on the new roads.

The Centre’s share in this programme is estimated to be around Rs 49,087.5 crore, while the state’s share is pegged at Rs 21,037.5 crore.

The scheme is designed to create 40 crore human-days of work employment. 

The 25,000 unconnected habitations that the new rural roads scheme will cover include those with a population size of more than 500 in plains, more than 250 in the hills, northeast and tribal areas, and over 100 in the left-wing affected districts, according to the 2011 Census.

The road alignment planning for PMGSY will be undertaken through the PM Gati Shakti portal. The planning tool on the PM Gati Shakti portal will also assist in the Detailed Project Report preparation, an official statement said.

Around 800,000 kilometers of rural roads have been built and 180,000 habitations were connected under various phases of the PMGSY scheme that was kick-started in 2000.