Overview
- The Union Cabinet, meeting Saturday, extended the rural roads upgrade under PMGSY‑III to March 2028 and raised the budget to ₹83,977 crore.
- The approval keeps work going on roads and bridges in the plains and on roads in hilly areas, with a longer window to March 2029 for bridges in hilly terrain.
- Projects sanctioned before March 31, 2025 but not yet awarded can now be tendered, and 161 pending long‑span bridges worth an estimated ₹961 crore may be sanctioned and put to bid.
- Phase III targets key through routes that link villages to farm markets, higher secondary schools, and hospitals, with 83% of the 1,22,393 km sanctioned built by December 2025.
- Officials say finishing these links will cut travel time, improve access to care and classrooms, and boost rural trade, especially for remote and hilly communities.