In the expansive rural road landscape of India, where rudimentary paths once isolated villages from broader opportunities, rural road development has proven to be a pivotal instrument of transformation. Since its inception in 2000, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a rural-level road construction programme, methodically extending connectivity to remote habitations. In India’s social context of wide inequality, the absence of roads historically meant seasonal isolation for many villages, especially those in tribal, hilly or flood‑prone regions. Expanding rural connectivity has therefore functioned both as the growth infrastructure and as a basic instrument of social protection, helping reduce shocks of seasonal disconnect for households and tap into new, alternative livelihood options as well.
Programme overview and objectives
Launched on December 25, 2000, the PMGSY was conceived to provide all‑weather road connectivity to eligible unconnected rural habitations above specified population thresholds in the “core network” identified by states. The design emphasised single all‑weather link roads to each qualifying habitation, creating a network of roads that could then be extended and densified over time. From the get-go, the programme linked infrastructure provision to broader socio‑economic gains – better access to schools and health centres, improved mobility for women and children and the ability of farmers to reach markets in time to secure better prices for their produce. As the network expanded, the focus increasingly shifted from simply “reaching” villages to enhancing the quality, safety and sustainability of rural connectivity.
Progress so far
Two and a half decades after its launch, the PMGSY’s cumulative footprint and progress show both the ambition and the administrative effort involved. As of August 2025, the PMGSY (all verticals) has sanctioned over 838,611 km of rural roads and more than 12,100 bridges. Of this, around 783,727 km of road length and the construction of around 9,891 bridges have been completed. Key current focus areas include rural road development in the north-eastern region as well. Overall, around 17,637 road works covering 89,436 km and 2,398 bridges have been sanctioned in the region. Of these, 16,469 road works spanning 80,933 km and 2,108 bridges have been completed.
Phase I of the programme concentrated on connecting eligible unconnected habitations with all‑weather roads. As of July 2025, road connectivity works for around 163,339 habitations have been sanctioned under PMGSY I, and 162,818 of these, about 99.7 per cent, have already been connected.
Phase II of the programme was launched in 2013 and is focused on upgrading 50,000 km of existing roads. As of June 2025, under the vertical, around 49,244 km of roads has been sanctioned and around 49,082 km have been completed.
Phase III of the programme was launched in 2019, and it was centred around major rural links and through routes. Upgradation works of 125,000 km of rural roads, including gramin agricultural markets, higher secondary schools and hospitals, were planned and laid out under this phase.
Additionally, in September 2024, the union cabinet approved the launch of Phase IV of the PMGSY, which will provide additional connectivity to 25,000 unconnected habitations that now qualify in light of population growth. It is projected to construct around 62,500 km of roads at a cost of Rs 701.25 billion between 2024-25 and 2028-29 to provide connection to qualifying unconnected habitations. PMGSY Phase IV emphasises special category areas like the Northeast as well, with ongoing sanctions for bridges and roads in hilly terrains. As of August 2025, progress includes 783,727 km completed out of 838,611 km, boosting overall connectivity.
This near‑universal coverage of eligible habitations represents a qualitative shift in India’s rural infrastructure landscape. Policy priorities can now move from the binary of “connected versus unconnected” to questions of service levels, climate resilience, maintenance and integration with other sectors such as irrigation, health and digital connectivity. The developmental significance of rural roads and bridges is particularly visible in regions that were chronically cut off in the monsoon. In Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, for instance, the earlier road causeway across the Rojhan Nalla regularly went under water, isolating nearly 2,000 villagers – most of whom were from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities – from hospitals, schools and markets. To address this, a bridge with seven 10 m spans was sanctioned in 2018-19, both as a connectivity intervention and as an employment generator. Migrant workers returning to the village were trained and employed in construction, creating around 3,000 man-days of work while delivering the project on time, and the completed bridge now serves as a durable lifeline linking these communities to essential services.
Quality assurance and technical standards
Given how widespread the rural road network is in India, quality and durability are central concerns for both fiscal sustainability and user safety. the PMGSY emphasises that roads are built to strict technical standards and are subject to a three‑tier quality monitoring system, spanning in‑house checks, state‑level oversight and independent external reviews.
Since its inception, the PMGSY programme has mandated 15 per cent of proposals use innovations like cement/lime stabilisation, cell-filled concrete and panelled cement pavements, with around 54,494 km sanctioned by 2018. Geospatial monitoring and data-driven tools via the OMMS portal enable real-time tracking, while Phase IV (2024-29) emphasises energy-efficient practices and waste integration. Cold mix technology reduces energy use, and bio-engineering enhances resilience in hilly terrains.
Uniform technical standards, third-party audits and first-tier quality monitors ensure compliance from design to maintenance. Guidelines enforce bio-engineering, cross-drainage structures and performance contracts, with OMMS facilitating oversight. Such systems seek to ensure that roads achieve their designed service life and withstand stress from traffic, rainfall and local soil conditions. In practice, robust quality control also underpins value for money, because better‑built roads reduce the frequency and cost of major repairs or reconstructions that would otherwise strain limited maintenance budgets.
According to PMGSY, a road is built with a 10-year design life. For the first five years, the contractor is in charge of road maintenance under the standard bidding document (SBD). Over the next five years, maintenance will be the responsibility of the state government. However, contractors do not follow this, which lowers the quality of the roads. The PMGSY Committee suggested that the Department of Rural Development (DoRD) ensure that the SBD’s requirements for road maintenance be strictly followed. Contractors who violate this should be placed on a blacklist. Additionally, it suggested that the DoRD work with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that funding is released on schedule. Further, the DoRD should oversee states to ensure a steady flow of funding.
Green and new technology adoption
An important recent dimension of rural road development under PMGSY is the explicit push for new and green technologies. As of August 2025, a total of 166,694 km of road length has been sanctioned using such technologies, and around 124,688 km has already been constructed, signalling a significant mainstreaming and promotion of alternative materials and designs, such as cold mix bituminous tech, local materials and performance-based maintenance contracts for longevity.
The PMGSY prioritises environment-friendly designs using recycled materials like waste plastic (26,953 tonnes utilised, averting 109,782 tonnes of CO2), fly ash and industrial waste to cut emissions and reliance on natural resources. Climate-resilient features include disaster-resistant roads with full depth reclamation/cement-treated bases, geosynthetics, bioengineering for landslides, raised embankments in flood zones and enhanced drainage.
Advanced digital tools like OMMS for real-time monitoring, e-MARG for performance-based maintenance contracts and GPS-enabled vehicle tracking ensure quality and transparency, with geotagged inspections by national and state quality monitors uploaded via mobile apps.
Financing and policy landscape
The PMGSY, launched as a fully centrally sponsored scheme, has relied on government funding sourced from the cess on high speed diesel, initially earmarking 50 per cent (Rs 25 billion in 2000-01) as additional central assistance. Funding evolved post 2015 following the 14th Finance Commission’s recommendations, shifting to a 60:40 centre-state split (90:10 for the north-eastern and Himalayan states), with states responsible for maintenance to address delays from non-timely releases.
Sustained public investment has been crucial for embedding rural roads as a development priority in national and state budgets. For 2025-26, the PMGSY has received an allocation of Rs 190 billion, indicating strong ongoing fiscal support for strengthening rural connectivity.
International banks have also been playing a key role in rural road development in states like Maharashtra, where the Asian Development Bank has approved a $400 million results-based lending programme in November 2025, to boost road connectivity through the Maharashtra Roads Connectivity for Inclusive Growth Programme. Targeting 34 districts, especially climate-vulnerable Marathwada and Vidarbha, the funds will be utilised to upgrade 350 km of state highways and 2,577 km of rural roads, providing all-weather access for over 1.7 million people across 80 villages and 410 communities to markets, logistics hubs, healthcare, education and post-harvest centres. The initiative integrates International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) standards for safer designs, including school and village gateways, as well as training for 120 engineers, while prioritising climate-resilient, low-carbon infrastructure, advanced technologies, maintenance and gender mainstreaming.
From access to integration
Now that the majority of eligible habitations are connected, the focus of policy discussions is shifting to how rural roads may enhance their impact by integrating with other services and infrastructure. Upgrading single-lane roads where traffic has increased, enhancing safety measures, guaranteeing inclusive design for bicyclists and pedestrians, and bolstering maintenance schedules to prevent connectivity advances from eroding over time will be some of the future priorities. Tremendous progress has already been made in developing rural roads. Looking ahead, rural road construction is likely to continue to promote inclusive growth while addressing the new issues of climate change and rural transformation by fusing physical access with social targeting and increasing the adoption of green technologies.
Himanshu Tagore
