Patna: After Patna, the Bihar government has decided to construct ring roads in six more cities—Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Darbhanga, Katihar, and Begusarai. Road Construction Minister Nitin Nabin made this announcement in the Assembly on Friday while presenting the income-expenditure report for the financial year 2025-26.
With this, the Assembly passed a budget of ₹6,806 crore for the Road Construction Department. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Sinha, was present during the session. However, the opposition, dissatisfied with the minister’s response, boycotted the proceedings.
Faster Connectivity Across Bihar
The government aims to improve road connectivity across the state, ensuring that any location can be reached within five hours. The plan includes reducing travel time to Patna to four hours by 2027 and to three hours by 2035.
As part of this vision, every 20 km will have a four-lane road to enhance accessibility. Additionally, 5,000 km of existing single-lane roads will be expanded into two-lane or wider roads.
Bihar State Highway Project Phases
The minister outlined the progress under the Bihar State Highway Project:
- Phase 1: Work on five projects covering 225 km will be carried out at a cost of ₹2,900 crore.
- Phase 2: Road development spanning 493 km will be undertaken at ₹6,287 crore.
Major Road Projects and Investments
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier announced 137 road construction projects worth ₹23,375 crore during his Pragati Yatra. Work on these projects will commence within three months.
- ₹2,000 crore will be allocated for constructing 23 bypasses.
- JP Ganga Path will be extended from Koilwar to Mokama at a cost of ₹6,000 crore.
- The central government has approved projects worth ₹2,48,000 crore, including:
- Gorakhpur-Siliguri Highway
- Patna-Purnia Corridor
- Mokama-Munger Road
- ₹1,000 crore has been sanctioned from NABARD, and ₹600 crore from the CRIF fund for road development.
Bridge Maintenance Policy on the Way
The government is also formulating a comprehensive policy for bridge maintenance based on six key parameters. The policy, expected to be finalized within the next three to four months, will involve collaboration between the government and private sector for road construction and upkeep.
Assembly Discussions and Political Reactions
Before the minister’s speech, several MLAs from both ruling and opposition parties, including Sameer Kumar Mahaseth, Surendra Ram, Mithilesh Kumar, Rishi Kumar, Lalit Narayan Mandal, Shreyasi Singh, Gopal Ravidas, Anil Kumar, Satyendra Yadav, Suryakant Paswan, Akhtarul Islam Shaheen, Satish Das, Lakhendra Kumar Roshan, and Rajkumar Singh, participated in the budget discussion.
