India Bharatmala audit: Phase I findings and response

What the audit found

The Union government approved Bharatmala Phase I in 2017 for 34,800 kilometres of roads from 2017-18 to September 2022, at an estimated ₹5.35 lakh crore ^1,3.

The CAG found gaps in corridor planning, project appraisal and the selection of works placed under the programme. It said the ministry had no long-term perspective plan or detailed action plan tied to stated outcome indicators ¹.

The report recorded that 38.79 percent of the approved length was complete by March 2023. It found projects from the earlier National Highways Development Project had been added without first resolving the obstacles that had delayed them ¹.

The audit examined route substitution and appraisal issues, including parts of the Delhi-Vadodara Expressway. It issued 41 recommendations covering planning, approvals, tendering, contract management and outcome monitoring ¹.

The official response

Replies from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, NHAI and NHIDCL appear beside the findings in the CAG report. The agencies accepted some recommendations, described later controls and disputed parts of the audit analysis ¹.

The ministry said project choices had to account for traffic, network links and implementation needs. The CAG retained findings where it considered the replies or records insufficient ¹.

Parliament

The CAG sent the report to the government on 26 July 2023, and it was tabled in Parliament on 10 August 2023 ². Tabling placed the findings and agency replies in the public parliamentary record.

No later parliamentary committee report closing all 41 recommendations was identified in the official sources reviewed. Tabling the audit did not itself settle each project-level finding.

Follow-up audits and recommendations

The CAG called for a long-term national-highway plan, clearer criteria for programme inclusion, documented appraisals, stronger tender checks and monitoring against intended outcomes ¹.

In June 2025 the road ministry published a mechanism for monitoring outcome parameters for capacity-augmentation projects, including Bharatmala Phase I ⁴. That later document addresses an area raised by the audit, but it is not a CAG closure assessment for all 41 recommendations.

Courts, tribunals and investigations

No court judgment deciding the CAG's programme-wide findings was identified in the official sources reviewed. Individual road projects may have separate land, environment or contract proceedings outside the scope of this page.

The audit concerns programme governance, procurement and delivery. It does not make a criminal finding against the ministry, an implementing agency or a contractor ¹.

Where it stands now

Bharatmala Phase I remained an active road programme after the audit period. The ministry's 2025 monitoring document shows that outcome measurement continued to be developed ⁴.

The official record reviewed does not contain a single recommendation tracker showing which of the CAG's 41 recommendations have been accepted, implemented or closed. The case remains open for documentary follow-up.

Timeline