The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), a flagship initiative aimed at linking rural regions via all-weather roads, has demonstrated sustained progress across its various verticals. Launched in 2000, the programme’s primary objective is to provide reliable, single all-weather connectivity to previously unconnected habitations, a goal that is now approximately 99 per cent achieved.
Current network and progress
Presently, India’s comprehensive road network spans roughly 6.4 million km. Of this, national highways comprise approximately 151,000 km, state highways account for 186,521 km and major district roads constitute the largest share, totalling 5,435,115 km. The cumulative scope of the programme, including planned work for the next three years, amounts to approximately 14-15 per cent of India’s total rural road network. To date, the programme has successfully connected around 162,775 habitations through the completion of nearly 791,000 km of roads, representing a substantial capex of approximately $3,505.08 billion.
Over the years, the PMGSY has evolved through four major verticals. Launched in 2000, PMGSY-I focused on both new connectivity and upgradation of existing rural roads that did not provide all-weather access. PMGSY-II, introduced in 2013, concentrated only on upgradation and had a target of 50,000 km. PMGSY-III, launched in 2019, expanded the upgradation target to 125,000 km. PMGSY-IV, the most recent phase which was approved in 2024, seeks to connect newly eligible habitations that have met population thresholds over time. Under this phase, around 25,000 habitations have been identified for connectivity. Eligibility has been based on population norms of 500 in normal areas and 250 in special category areas, particularly in hill states and the Northeast. Additionally, projects are now being sanctioned under this phase.
Most importantly, the overall scope of the programme extends well beyond its original and vertical-specific targets to include some key interministerial initiatives. For instance, for the Ministry of Home Affairs, the programme has successfully executed the Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas, completing approximately 9,000 km of roads across nine states. Additionally, it is currently implementing two other active initiatives: the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Vibrant Village Programme, assigned in 2023, and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan programme, under which roughly 8,000 km of roads have been sanctioned and are currently under construction.
Strengthening project oversight
A robust institutional framework has been established to oversee this programme. The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) serves as the central nodal department. However, because the MoRD lacks internal engineering staff, the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA) was established as its dedicated technical arm. State technical agencies and principal technical agencies are engaged to rigorously scrutinise project proposals for the PMGSY and its allied schemes. To ensure stringent quality management, a multi-tier oversight system is in place. National quality monitors (NQMs) at the central level and state quality monitors (SQMs) at the regional level have been empanelled.
Each state government has designated a specific nodal department, under which a state rural infrastructure development agency has been established to mirror the functions of the NRIDA. At the grassroots level, project execution is managed directly by dedicated district programme implementation units. In 2025-26 (till January), 5,774 field labs were set up. There were at least 21,167 SQM inspections and 4,067 NQM inspections. Before this, in 2024-25, 6,663 field labs were set up, and around 33,859 SQM inspections and 4,705 NQM inspections took place. In recent years, the highest SQM inspections took place in 2023-24 (37,373), with 5,363 NQM inspections and 6,543 field labs established.
Ensuring quality via the “stage passing” concept
The “stage passing” protocol introduces a structured quality control mechanism requiring the head of the project implementation unit (PIU) to personally certify construction quality upon the completion of specific phases. This framework establishes four critical stages for road projects and five different stages for bridge construction. Layer by layer, the PIU head conducts independent quality testing to supplement standard inspections performed by the contractor’s engineer, the junior engineer (JE) and the assistant engineer (AE). This procedure mandates regular, on-site verification visits by the PIU head to validate quality at every specified level, triggering the generation of a digital certificate for each approved stage. For bridge projects specifically, this rigorous quality certification must be completed across all five designated milestones before work can progress.
Mobile application: The “Quality First App” enables the PIU Head (executive engineer) to conduct pre-mapped tests for each eligible activity and record satisfaction before approving stage progression. If the stage does not meet quality standards, the contractor must rectify the issues with the supervision of the JE/AEs and work will be re-inspected by the PIU head before stage progression. The app is integrated with work progress, prompting the PIU head to inspect and certify each stage upon its completion.
Section mapping: During the initial visit, the PIU head must conduct a meeting with the contractor and PIU officials to map the expected section-wise progress of the road. The road is then divided into sections, each typically not exceeding 5 km.
Stage-wise structure: Road works are divided into four stages and bridge construction works into five stages for mandatory inspection, considering the nature of work and payment flow. Timely entry of progress data is mandatory and will be ensured through built-in logics that keep the reported progress synchronised with the actual site progress, preventing any bulk or aggregated entries. Similarly, inspection of completed stages is enforced through appropriate logics embedded in the web module.
Release of payment: If a section is found satisfactory based on test results, the PIU head will issue a “stage passing certificate” to proceed to the next stage and allow payment for all executed items that have passed the stage.
Routine inspection: In addition to certifying each completed stage, the PIU head and senior officials (state quality coordinator/chief engineer/superintending engineer) can conduct routine tests during each stage of construction, which will also be recorded digitally.
Other digital deployments for robust asset management
Under the PMGSY, an entirely geographic information system-based road network, habitations and points of interests are released as open data. To optimise investments, a transport planning algorithm (trace maps) is utilised for simulating use case-based traffic on rural roads. Advanced artificial intelligence (AI) is also deployed across operations, which includes AI-based flagging of road upgradation proposals with large sections already in good condition, alongside AI-based anomaly detection over 100 design/cost parameters to identify detailed project reports needing further scrutiny. Finally, oversight is maintained through AI-based flagging of irregular maintenance payments by verifying inspection photographs.
Additionally, each rural road includes a mandatory five-year routine maintenance period as part of the construction agreement with the same contractor. Under PMGSY-III, this has been expanded to a 5+5 year contract structure that includes periodic renewal, and all states have officially issued a dedicated maintenance policy. Operational efficiency is driven by eMARG, an end-to-end online system designed for ease of doing business in maintenance. This platform enables the online registration of contractors and the automated generation of eBills by the software. Contractors can handle the submission of ebills with the click of a button, while inspections are done through a mobile app by uploading photos. The platform then conducts an outcomes-based performance evaluation of the road on a 0-100 scale, leading to the processing of bills based on the marks obtained in the performance evaluation, which culminates in a direct digital payment to the contractor’s account.
Increasing use of green materials and technologies
New technology guidelines were issued in 2013 to promote the use of local, non-conventional and green technologies in road construction, mandating states to use new technologies in 15 per cent of their total proposals, comprising 10 per cent using Indian Roads Congress (IRC) mainstreaming technologies and 5 per cent using IRC-accredited technologies. Under these new and green technology initiatives, around 172,717 km of road works have been sanctioned, and 129,938 km has been completed.
Among these innovations, cold mix technology accounts for 25,712 km constructed, which has resulted in 38.57 million litres of fuel saved and 1,15,704 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved, according to estimates based on studies by the Central Road Research Institute. An evaluation by The Energy and Resources Institute in 2017 confirmed that cold mix technology delivers energy savings and less CO2 emissions over the lifespan of a rural road, also noting that cold mix does not require periodic maintenance for a longer period. Additionally, waste plastic has been utilised for 45,957 km of construction. The combined savings achieved from cold mix and waste plastic technology include 20,129 tonnes of waste plastic used and 30,193 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved. A subsequent evaluation in 2019 revealed that the life cycle cost of waste plastic roads is 4.3 per cent lower compared to conventional roads, further proving that cold mix has an edge over hot mix from a cost, safety, environmental impact and productivity point of view.
Impact and potential of enhanced rural connectivity
The major advantage of the all-weather connectivity provided by PMGSY roads is the direct movement to the labour market. This improved market access due to better connectivity has also resulted in a shift in cropping patterns. Furthermore, these roads have contributed to an increase in income for many households engaged in farming, trading, transport and other services. On a broader scale, PMGSY roads contribute to Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 9 and address issues of poverty, hunger and infrastructure for growth, while providing a long-term and sustained boost in the living standards of rural populations. Overall, beyond expanding the rural road network, the PMGSY has catalysed employment opportunities and significantly enhanced access to markets, educational institutions and healthcare facilities. To sustain these economic gains, safeguard public safety, ensure infrastructural longevity and promote environmental sustainability, proper maintenance of rural roads remains imperative.
Based on remarks and a presentation by a senior National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency representative at a recent India Infrastructure conference
