The essentials
This brief sets the Cabinet's approval of Bharatmala Phase I in October 2017 against the Ministry's own answer to Parliament of 22 July 2026 and against CAG's audit of Phase I. On Saturday 24 October 2026 the programme completes nine years since the Cabinet approved it.
Not awarded
On the Ministry's answer of 22 July 2026, projects had been awarded for 26,425 km of the 34,800 km approved. That leaves 8,375 km, which is 24.1 per cent, not awarded under Phase I. The same answer says that new sanctions of projects under Phase I have been discontinued since November 2023. The Ministry told the Lok Sabha on 5 February 2026 that Bharatmala "has been discontinued since November 2023 with only awarded projects being taken up for completion".
Source: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 414, 'Implementation of Bharatmala Pariyojana', answered on 22 July 2026 ; Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, written reply in the Rajya Sabha, released by PIB on 18 December 2017 (Release ID 174465) ; Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1025, 'Completion of Projects under Bharatmala Phase-I', answered on 5 February 2026 .
Not built
The Ministry told the Rajya Sabha that 22,709 km had been constructed up to May 2026, which is 65.3 per cent of the approved length. So 12,091 km of the length approved in 2017 had not been built by May 2026, although the five years that the Ministry gave Parliament ended with 2021-22.
Source: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 414, 'Implementation of Bharatmala Pariyojana', answered on 22 July 2026 ; Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, written reply in the Rajya Sabha, released by PIB on 18 December 2017 (Release ID 174465) .
CAG's count
In its Report No. 19 of 2023, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India counted the progress of Phase I up to 31 March 2023, after those five years had ended. CAG found that 13,499 km had been completed by then, which was only 38.79 per cent of the approved length.
The cost
On CAG's own count, the projects awarded up to 31 March 2023 carried a sanctioned cost of Rs 32.17 crore per km, while the Cabinet's approval worked out to Rs 15.37 crore per km. CAG also found that 158.24 per cent of the approved outlay had been sanctioned when only 75.62 per cent of the length had been awarded. The Ministry itself told the Lok Sabha on 31 July 2025 that projects covering 26,425 km "were awarded at a cost of about Rs 8.53 lakh Crore", against the Rs 5.35 lakh crore estimated in 2017 for all 34,800 km.
Source: CAG Report No. 19 of 2023, Performance Audit on Implementation of Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana, listed on 10 August 2023 ; Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1975, 'Cost Escalation under Bharatmala Pariyojana', answered on 31 July 2025 .
The promise of 24 October 2017
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways described the approval in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, which the Press Information Bureau released on 18 December 2017. The reply named the date, the length and the time for the work, in the words below.
| Where | The words |
|---|---|
| Ministry's written reply, released by PIB on 18 December 2017, first paragraph | The Cabinet has accorded approval to the investment proposal for the programme Bharatmala Pariyojana (BMP) Phase I on 24 th October 2017 for 34,800 km |
| The same reply | The above is to be implemented over a period of five years i.e. 2017-18 to 2021-22. |
| Answer to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 414, 22 July 2026, page 1 | covering a length of 34,800 km across the Country at an estimated outlay of Rs. 5,35,000 Crore |
The outlay of Rs 5,35,000 crore was approved for the whole 34,800 km, as the Ministry's answer of 22 July 2026 repeats.
Source: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, written reply in the Rajya Sabha, released by PIB on 18 December 2017 (Release ID 174465) ; Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 414, 'Implementation of Bharatmala Pariyojana', answered on 22 July 2026 .
The approved length, awarded and built
The Ministry's answer of 22 July 2026 sets the length awarded and the length built against the 34,800 km the Cabinet approved. Both counts run to May 2026. The office's arithmetic on that answer gives the two gaps, which the chart shows in red.
| Figure | What it counts | As of | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 34,800 km | Length the Cabinet approved for Phase I | 24 October 2017 | PIB, 18 December 2017 |
| 26,425 km | Length awarded under Phase I | May 2026 | RS USQ 414, page 1 and annexure |
| 22,709 km | Length constructed, 65.3 per cent of the approved length | May 2026 | RS USQ 414, page 1 |
| 8,375 km | Approved length not awarded, 24.1 per cent | 22 July 2026 | Office arithmetic on RS USQ 414 |
| 12,091 km | Approved length not constructed | May 2026 | Office arithmetic on RS USQ 414 |
Source: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 414, 'Implementation of Bharatmala Pariyojana', answered on 22 July 2026 ; Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, written reply in the Rajya Sabha, released by PIB on 18 December 2017 (Release ID 174465) .
What CAG found by 31 March 2023
CAG's Report No. 19 of 2023 gives the position of Phase I up to 31 March 2023. By that date 26,316 km had been awarded, which was 75.62 per cent of the approved length. Only 13,499 km had been completed, which was 38.79 per cent.
| Figure | What CAG counted | As of | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26,316 km | Length awarded, 75.62 per cent of the approved length | 31 March 2023 | CAG, page iii |
| 13,499 km | Length completed, 38.79 per cent of the approved length | 31 March 2023 | CAG, page 6 |
The cost per kilometre, on CAG's own count
CAG set the sanctioned cost of the projects against the cost the Cabinet approved, and both comparisons below are its own. The sanctioned cost is the cost fixed for each project when it was cleared. The civil cost is the cost of the construction work alone.
| Measure | Approved by the Cabinet | Sanctioned, up to 31 March 2023 | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole cost per km | Rs 15.37 crore per km | Rs 32.17 crore per km | CAG, page iii |
| Civil cost per km | Rs 13.98 crore per km | Rs 23.89 crore per km | CAG, page vi |
| Whole cost, in total | Rs 5,35,000 crore for 34,800 km | Rs 8,46,588 crore for 26,316 km | CAG, page iii |
CAG put the result in these words: "Upto 31 March 2023, when only 75.62 per cent of CCEA approved length has been awarded, 158.24 per cent of CCEA approved financial outlay has already been sanctioned." CCEA is the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which approved Phase I.
Nine years, date by date
The dates below come from the Government's own record. Each line names the document in which the Government or its auditor said it.
| Date | What happened | Where it is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| 24 October 2017 | The Cabinet approves 34,800 km of national highways under Bharatmala Phase I. | PIB, 18 December 2017 |
| 18 December 2017 | The Ministry tells the Rajya Sabha that the work is to be done over five years, from 2017-18 to 2021-22. | PIB, 18 December 2017 |
| 31 March 2023 | CAG counts 26,316 km awarded and 13,499 km completed. | CAG Report No. 19 of 2023 |
| November 2023 | New sanctions of projects under Phase I are discontinued, as the Ministry later tells the Rajya Sabha. | RS USQ 414 |
| May 2026 | The Ministry counts 26,425 km awarded and 22,709 km constructed. | RS USQ 414 |
| 22 July 2026 | The Ministry answers the Rajya Sabha, and 8,375 km of the approved length has not been awarded. | RS USQ 414 |
| 24 October 2026 | Nine years pass since the Cabinet's approval. | The date of approval |
Nine years after the approval, the Government's own answer to Parliament shows that close to a quarter of the highway it approved in 2017 had not been awarded under the programme, and that more than a third of it had not been built.
Source: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, written reply in the Rajya Sabha, released by PIB on 18 December 2017 (Release ID 174465) ; Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 414, 'Implementation of Bharatmala Pariyojana', answered on 22 July 2026 ; CAG Report No. 19 of 2023, Performance Audit on Implementation of Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana, listed on 10 August 2023 ; Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1975, 'Cost Escalation under Bharatmala Pariyojana', answered on 31 July 2025 ; Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1025, 'Completion of Projects under Bharatmala Phase-I', answered on 5 February 2026 .
Terms, explained
- Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I
- It is the first phase of the Union Government's highway programme, which the Cabinet approved on 24 October 2017 for 34,800 km of national highways.
- Awarded
- A stretch of highway is awarded when the agency in charge gives the contract to build it. In this brief, the length not awarded is the part of the approved length that the Ministry's answer does not show as awarded under Phase I.
- Constructed
- It is the length that the Ministry reports as built.
- Outlay
- It is the money that the Cabinet approved for the programme, which was Rs 5,35,000 crore for the whole 34,800 km.
- Sanctioned cost
- It is the cost fixed for each project when the project was cleared.
- Civil cost
- It is the cost of the construction work alone, which leaves out the cost of land and other work before building.
- CAG
- The Comptroller and Auditor General of India audits the accounts of the Union Government and reports to Parliament.
- CCEA
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is the committee of the Union Cabinet that approved Phase I.
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Sources & method
Every figure in this brief comes from five official documents. The first is the Ministry's written reply of 18 December 2017, which the Press Information Bureau released. The second is the Ministry's answer to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 414 of 22 July 2026, and the third is CAG's Report No. 19 of 2023. The last two are the Ministry's answers in the Lok Sabha of 31 July 2025 and 5 February 2026. Each was read in a saved copy, and every quotation was found again, word for word, before this brief was built.
Five figures are the office's own arithmetic on the answer of 22 July 2026, and each uses two figures that stand in one table of that answer. The length not awarded is 34,800 km less 26,425 km, which is 8,375 km, or 24.1 per cent. The length built, 22,709 km, is 65.3 per cent of the approved length, which leaves 12,091 km not built. The length awarded is 75.9 per cent of the approved length.
CAG's figures are printed as CAG printed them, and they are counted up to 31 March 2023. The Ministry's lengths are counted up to May 2026, and its cost figure is the one it gave the Lok Sabha on 31 July 2025. The two counts were made on different dates, so this brief gives each figure its own date and does not join them into one series.
Every share that the office worked out is rounded once, to one decimal, from the unrounded result.
- Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, written reply in the Rajya Sabha, released by PIB on 18 December 2017 (Release ID 174465) .
- Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 414, 'Implementation of Bharatmala Pariyojana', answered on 22 July 2026 .
- CAG Report No. 19 of 2023, Performance Audit on Implementation of Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana, listed on 10 August 2023 .
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1975, 'Cost Escalation under Bharatmala Pariyojana', answered on 31 July 2025 .
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1025, 'Completion of Projects under Bharatmala Phase-I', answered on 5 February 2026 .