Bihar Road Network Doubles Under Nitish Kumar's 20-Year Leadership

Under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, remarkable work has been done in the development of infrastructure in Bihar in the last 20 years. It has also become an example for the country. The radical change in the picture of Bihar before and after 2005 is clearly visible especially in the field of road construction.

During the tenure of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the pace of road construction in Bihar has doubled. According to the information received from the Road Construction Department, till the year 2005, only 14 thousand 468 kilometers of roads were constructed in the state. At the same time, by the year 2025, this figure has increased to more than 26 thousand kilometers. This is not only an increase in the amount of construction, but also reflects the government's foresight, policy commitment and dedication towards innovation.

Talking about National Highways, till the year 2005, there were a total of 3 thousand 629 kilometers of roads in the state, which has now increased to 6 thousand 147 kilometers. The length of state highways has also increased from 2 thousand 382 km to 3 thousand 638 km. The length of major district roads has also increased on a large scale where in the year 2005 the length of major district roads was 8,457 km which has now increased to 16,296 km.

Unprecedented progress has also been seen in the field of road widening in the state. Before the year 2005, where most of the roads were limited to single or intermediate lanes, now the number of two, four and six lane roads has increased significantly. The length of single lane roads in national highways has now decreased from 764 km to just 186 km, while the length of two lane roads has increased from 1,208 km to 3,278 km. Also, the total length of four and six lanes has now reached 1,704 km. Similarly, the State Highways have also seen a major transformation—where earlier only 52 km of roads were two-lane, now their length has increased to 2,786 km, while the length of single and intermediate lane roads has come down to 286 and 292 km respectively. The same trend is seen in the category of Major District Roads, where the length of two and four lane roads has increased.

If we talk about expressways, before the year 2005, not a single expressway existed in Bihar. But today the situation has completely changed as a result of the approval of the Central Government and the continuous efforts of the State Government. At present, five major expressway projects are under process in the state, which will not only give a new dimension to the connectivity of the state but will also accelerate the pace of economic development. These projects include:

• 408 km long Raxaul-Haldia Expressway

• 417 km long Gorakhpur-Siliguri Expressway

• 250 km long Patna-Purnia Expressway

• 300 km long Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway

• 161 km long Varanasi-Kolkata Expressway.

The state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is now moving towards another ambitious goal - to reach Patna from any corner of the state in a maximum of three and a half hours by 2027. Earlier, the government has already successfully implemented a system of reaching the capital in five hours.