SRINAGAR: The Centre on Thursday informed the Lok Sabha that 22,709 km of highways have been constructed under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I as of May 2026, while 720 km of National Highway projects across 38 works are currently under construction in Jammu and Kashmir, alongside 151.4 km across seven projects in Ladakh.
Replying to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 752 on July 23, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkari said Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, approved in 2017 with an estimated outlay of Rs 5.35 lakh crore, envisages development of 34,800 km of highways across the country. Of this, projects covering 26,425 km have been awarded and 22,709 km completed by May 2026.
According to the reply, Jammu and Kashmir has a total 433 km allocation under Bharatmala Phase-I. Of this, 251 km has been awarded, 179 km completed and 72 km remains under construction. In comparison, Ladakh was not listed under the Bharatmala Phase-I allocation.
The Minister said an impact assessment carried out by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore found that the programme has improved household incomes and expenditure, reduced logistics costs, enhanced market access for businesses and shortened travel time to schools and healthcare facilities, contributing significantly to socio-economic development.
The government also placed before Parliament details of National Highway projects sanctioned during the last three financial years. In Jammu and Kashmir, projects covering 179 km at a cost of Rs 2,774 crore were sanctioned in 2023-24, followed by 29 km worth Rs 1,262 crore in 2024-25, and 16 km costing Rs 370 crore in 2025-26.
For Ladakh, no projects were sanctioned in 2023-24, while 11 km valued at Rs 29 crore received approval in 2024-25. In 2025-26, another 14 km of National Highway projects worth Rs 1,417 crore were sanctioned.
Nationally, the Ministry said 1,191 National Highway projects spanning 25,917 km are currently under construction. Jammu and Kashmir accounts for 38 ongoing projects covering 720 km, while Ladakh has seven projects covering 151.4 km.
Addressing delays in highway construction, Gadkari said the principal challenges include land acquisition, statutory and forest clearances, utility shifting, encroachment removal, law and order issues, shortage of construction materials, poor contractor performance and force majeure events such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
To accelerate implementation, the government has streamlined land acquisition through the Bhoomi Rashi Portal, upgraded the Parivesh Portal for faster environmental and forest clearances, enabled online approval of railway bridge drawings, and strengthened monitoring through regular review meetings with state governments, the Project Monitoring Group and the PRAGATI mechanism.
The Minister also said highway projects are being tracked through the GIS-based Data Lake 3.0 platform, which covers pre-construction, construction and maintenance stages and is expected to become fully operational by April 2027. The system is being integrated with AI and machine learning-enabled drone monitoring, geo-tagged imagery and GIS dashboards to verify project progress and improve execution.
