Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated an ambitious Rs 50,800-crore Setu Bharatam project, under which a total of 208 railway crossings will be replaced by rail over bridges (ROBs). As part of the project, 1,500 bridges of the British era will be overhauled at an estimated expenditure of Rs. 30,000 crore. The ministry has already launched an Indian Bridge Management System to map 1,50,000 bridges across the country. Till now, an inventory of 50,000 bridges has been prepared while the first cycle of condition survey will be completed by June this year.

Lauding Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari for “pioneering work” in infrastructure, Modi said infrastructure plays a pivotal role in the country’s growth and a comprehensive integrated approach has been initiated.

Prime Minister said that developing rural roads is a priority for the government and it has got huge budgetary support this year. In Budget 2016-17, Rs. 19,000 crore has been sanctioned under the Pradham Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), to connect all villages with roads, compared with Rs. 14,291 crore in the revised estimates of 2015-16.

The details of 208 ROBs are as follows:

Andhra Pradesh – 33, Assam – 12, Bihar – 20, Chattisgarh – 5, Gujarat – 8, Haryana – 10, Himachal Pradesh – 5, Jharkhand – 11, Karnataka – 17, Kerala – 4, Madhya Pradesh -6, Maharashtra – 12, Odisha – 4, Punjab – 10, Rajasthan – 9, Tamil Nadu – 9, Utarakhand – 2, Uttar Pradesh – 9, West Bengal – 22.