Sometime back, Lalu Yadav, the Bihar strongman, tried to woo the electorate of his state by promising to build roads ‘smoother than the cheeks of Hema Malini’. That never happened; in fact, roads remained in the same potholed condition as before during his reign.
Bihar’s roads network is always a red button topic for the state’s politicians, especially when elections are near. In his comeback bid, CM Nitish Kumar’s government recently claimed that road construction has undergone a massive overhaul in the state, which has almost doubled the length of road in past two decades. The length of road, 14,468 km in 2005, has increased to 26,000 km now. The length of National Highways, 3,629 km in 2005, has gone up to 6,147 km in 2025, while the length of State Highways has increased to 3638 km, from 2382 km. The length of major district roads (MDR) has also almost doubled to 16,296 km from 8,457 km during the same period. The state has witnessed significant improvements in road widening. Prior to 2005, most of the roads were single lane or intermediate lane, but things have changed now and the state now boasts two lane, four lane and six lane roads.
Single lane roads are not the norm anymore, with the length of single lane NH declining to 186 km in 2025, from 764 km in 2005. However, the length of double lane NH has increased to 3,278 km from 1,208 km during the same period, while the length of four and six lane NH has touched 1,704 km.
Reducing travel time
To top it all, there are five expressways projects, which are underway now and they would not only provide a better connectivity to the state but also accelerate its pace of economic development. The Nitish Kumar government has resolved to reduce the travel time to reach Patna from any part of the state within five hours by the end of the year. After achieving the five-hour target, the travel time from Patna to remote parts of the state will be further reduced to four hours.
While some of these claims can be election-eve PR hype, the fact remains that the Centre and the state are putting their best foot forward to develop road infrastructure. In 2025-26, nearly two-thirds of all highway projects included in the national action plan are being launched in Bihar. These projects have a combined cost of Rs33,464 crore -- the highest allocation for any state in the country. A total of 52 projects have been approved for Bihar. Rajasthan ranks second with projects worth Rs14,811 crore, less than half of Bihar’s allocation. Maharashtra comes third with Rs13,869 crore worth of projects in the plan.
What’s notable is that, out of the 52 projects included in Bihar’s action plan, 46 have been marked as high priority
Amrit Lal Meena, chief secretary, Bihar, recently wrote to all district officials, directing them to review their district’s projects weekly to ensure swift preparation of detailed project reports (DPRs), complete land acquisition and initiate the tendering process at the earliest. He has emphasised that the aim should be to issue all project tenders before the Model Code of Conduct for elections comes into effect, sometime in October.
What’s notable is that, out of the 52 projects included in Bihar’s action plan, 46 have been marked as high priority. This means that project estimates and other documents must be submitted as soon as possible. The total length of these 52 highway projects in Bihar is 875 km. The list includes seven bridges, 18 road over-bridges/road under-bridges and seven bypasses. Some of the key projects include: a 10-km long elevated corridor between Anisabad and Patna; a bridge at Magardahi Ghat to ease traffic congestion near Samastipur city; a bridge on the Gandak River between Bettiah and Sewarahi; a bridge on the Kamla River; construction of bypasses in Arwal, Daudnagar, and Aurangabad to avoid city congestion; a 38-km highway between Darbhanga and Jaynagar; and a 69-km highway between Bettiah and Bagaha; an 89-km highway between Arwal and Bihar Sharif.
The Union ministry for road transport & highways, headed by Nitin Gadkari, recently conducted a nationwide review of proposed highway projects. Based on this review, the Centre issued an office memorandum to all state chief secretaries, instructing them to expedite pre-construction processes to facilitate early contract awards. The missive apart, sources in the ministry say that road work in Bihar is being given special attention, with work being monitored on a regular basis.