Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, provided information about road development projects in Bihar. He stated that under the Buxar-Bhagalpur high-speed corridor, a four-lane greenfield expressway is being constructed on the Mokama-Munger section. It is approximately 82.4 kilometers long and will cost Rs 4,447 crore. This project will reduce travel time and provide people with a safe way to travel.

Five major expressway projects have been approved in Bihar, which include the Buxar-Bhagalpur, Patna-Purnia, Raxaul-Haldia, Gorakhpur-Siliguri, and Varanasi-Kolkata expressways. The total length of these projects is 1626.37 kilometers, and the target for completion is the year 2027. A sum of Rs 1,18,849.40 crore has been sanctioned for this.

Approval for five major expressway projects in Bihar

- Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway: 

The Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway is a proposed high-speed corridor designed to connect major cities and rural areas, integrating the industrial, agricultural, and cultural sectors of Bihar. It will pass through districts such as Ara, Begusarai, and Khagaria.

  • Total Length: 380 km
  • Total Cost: Rs 22,800 crore
  • Key Benefit: The journey from Buxar to Bhagalpur, which currently takes 6-8 hours, will be cut down to 2-3 hours.

- Patna-PurniaExpressway: The Patna-Purnia Expressway will significantly improve infrastructure by including 21 large bridges, 140 small bridges, 9 rail over bridges (ROBs), and 21 interchanges. It will pass through seven districts of Bihar, including Vaishali, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Saharsa, Madhepura, and Purnia.

  • Total Length: 245 km
  • Total Cost: Rs 28,415 crore

- Raxaul-Haldia Expressway: The Raxaul-Haldia Expressway is a proposed six-lane, access-controlled greenfield project. It will connect Raxaul in Bihar to the Haldia port in West Bengal.

  • Total Length: 407 km
  • Total Cost: Rs 26,704 crore
  • Key Benefit: The project is expected to reduce the travel time between Raxaul and Haldia to less than 10 hours.

- Gorakhpur-Siliguri Expressway: This 417 km long expressway will allow drivers to travel at a high speed of 120 km per hour. The section in Bihar will pass through eight districts: West and East Champaran, Shivhar, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Araria and Kishanganj.

  • Total Length: 417 km
  • Cost: Approximately Rs 66 crore per kilometer.

- Varanasi-Kolkata Expressway: This expressway aims to drastically reduce the travel time between Varanasi and Kolkata from the current average of 15 hours to just 9 hours. The project will also connect with the Patna-Gaya-Dobhi and Patna-Ara-Sasaram routes.

  • Total Length: 610 km, with about 160 km passing through Bihar.
  • Total Cost: According to one set of project details for the Bihar section, the length is 177.37 km and the cost is Rs 11,206.4 crore.