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