Eye on 2027 polls, Punjab CM Mann govt to repair 20,000 km of rural roads

Indian Express

15 hours ago

The Punjab government has launched a massive rural road repair and upgradation drive, covering more than 20,000 km of link roads across the state, the first such exercise in nearly seven years. Coming ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, the project is being funded primarily through loans, with the Centre's Rural Development Fund (RDF), pending for four years, forcing the state to seek alternative sources.
The total project outlay is Rs 3,436 crore. With the Centre holding back an estimated Rs 10,000 crore in RDF dues, the government has turned to NABARD and other sources to fund this crucial infrastructure overhaul.
According to a senior government official, the work is strategically timed to be completed by late 2026, ahead of the Assembly elections. 'The government wants visible development. Freshly paved rural roads just before the polls will boost the perception of progress,' the official said.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in a public address last week, said the state would invest Rs 3,500 crore to repair 19,000 km of rural roads and accused the Centre of stalling the RDF, which he said could have funded the entire rural road revamp.
Currently, tenders have been floated for the first major leg of the work , about 5,672 km of link roads, with allotments scheduled in phases until mid-August.
In addition to repairing link roads, the Punjab government has set aside funds for several other key infrastructure works. It will spend Rs 100 crore on the repair of 21 roads and bridges through NABARD's Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). Another Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated from the state's consolidated fund to upgrade 1,349 km of plan roads maintained by the Public Works Department (PWD). The government will also spend Rs 261 crore to improve 77 link roads commonly used for mining and sand transportation, with funding coming from the Centre's Special Assistance and market committees.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, 736 km of rural roads are also being upgraded with Rs 671 crore sanctioned by the Centre.
While the state government is projecting this drive as a game-changing investment in rural infrastructure, officials acknowledge that reliance on borrowed funds was a last resort in the face of the prolonged RDF deadlock.
With less than two years left for the next elections, the AAP government is hoping the visibility of road construction will translate into political goodwill — especially in the rural heartland where connectivity is directly tied to agricultural activity and daily life.
During the Assembly session in March this year, public works minister Harbhajan Singh had blamed their shabby state on the delay by the Centre in releasing RDF.