evidence: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella highway development project. The Centre has formally approved the Phase-1 of one of India’s biggest highway development plan – the Bharatmala project. Under the phase-1 of the massive project, a total of around 34,800-km of roads at an investment of over Rs 5.35 lakh crores would be constructed by 2022. [...] - Bharatmala is a new umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing the efficiency of road traffic movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps. [...] - Bharatmala Pariyojana phase –I also includes 10,000 kms of balance road works under NHDP, taking the total to 34,800 kms at an estimated cost of Rs.5,35,000 crore. Bharatmala Phase I – is to be implemented over a five years period of i.e. 2017-18 to 2021-22.