Patna, Bihar’s newly appointed Path Nirman (Road Construction) Minister, Nitin Naveen, has set out an aggressive roadmap to transform the state’s transport network, promising residents access to a four-lane highway within 40 kilometres of their homes and the ability to reach the state capital, Patna, from any corner of Bihar in under four hours.
Speaking to reporters on his first day in office after Monday’s cabinet formation, Mr Naveen described the department as “the backbone of Bihar’s overall development” and reiterated Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s long-standing vision of high-quality, all-weather road connectivity. The minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Kumar for entrusting him with the portfolio.
Key priorities outlined for the next five years include:
– Fast-tracking expressways, ring roads and projects announced during the chief minister’s “Pragati Yatra”;
– Linking rural areas to urban centres, improving access to tourist destinations and integrating planned industrial corridors with the rest of the state;
– Reconstructing dilapidated existing roads;
– Deploying digital monitoring systems to ensure construction quality and road-safety standards;
– Establishing a technology-driven public grievance-redressal platform.
Mr Naveen said technological upgrades and stricter enforcement of safety norms would be non-negotiable. “We will leverage modern tools for real-time oversight and adopt global best practices in road engineering,” he added.
Separately, progress on the ₹3,712-crore Patna-Sasaram four-lane access-controlled highway – a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project – has hit a snag after the contract awarded to Oman-based Gulfar Engineering and Construction was cancelled. NHAI officials cited the company’s failure to obtain a no-objection certificate from Oman’s interior ministry. Gulfar has requested a 10-day extension, promising clearance within that window. Should the document not arrive, authorities confirmed a fresh tender would be floated immediately, potentially delaying the 2028 completion target and inflating costs.
The Patna-Sasaram corridor is part of a broader post-election infrastructure thrust in Bihar, with two additional four-lane highways recently cleared by the Centre. Analysts see the state’s road-building drive as critical to unlocking economic potential in one of India’s poorest and most densely populated regions, where logistics bottlenecks have long constrained industrial and agricultural growth.
With the NDA comfortably returned to power in the November 2025 assembly polls, the Nitish Kumar government appears determined to deliver tangible development dividends before the next electoral cycle. Whether the ambitious timelines survive India’s familiar hurdles of land acquisition, contractor disputes and monsoon disruptions remains the multibillion-rupee question.
