Cabinet approves extension of rural roads scheme PMGSY-III till March 2028

Earlier phases focused on building new roads to unconnected villages, while phase III focused on upgrading existing routes

Union Cabinet on Saturday approved extension of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase III (PMGSY) from March 2025 to March 2028, with a revised outlay of ₹83,977 crore, up from the original ₹80,250 crore.

Phase III, launched in 2019, upgraded key routes to markets, schools, and hospitals. (Representative image/HT File Photo)

The extension covers roads and bridges in plain areas and roads in hilly areas. Bridges in hilly areas get a further push to March 2029.

The Cabinet also cleared the sanctioning of 161 long-span bridges, estimated at ₹961 crore that were pending approval but fall on the alignment of already sanctioned roads. As per senior officials in the rural development ministry “works sanctioned before March 31, 2025 but not yet tendered will now be taken up for award, ensuring that projects already in the pipeline do not lapse.”

Launched in 2019, PMGSY-III focuses on upgrading 1,25,000 km of through routes and major rural links connecting habitations to gramin agricultural markets, higher secondary schools, and hospitals.

Earlier phases focused on building new roads to unconnected villages, while phase III focused on upgrading existing routes.

As of December 2025, 1,22,393 km had been sanctioned, of which 1,01,623 km (83%) had been constructed. The three-year extension gives states the time to complete the remaining 17%.

PMGSY was launched on December 25, 2000, under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with the objective of providing all-weather road connectivity to unconnected rural habitations across India.

Across all phases since inception, as of December 2025, the scheme has sanctioned 8,25,114 km of rural roads, of which 7,87,520 km (95%) has been completed. As of September 2025, a total of 9,891 bridges have been built.

As per the performance report of the scheme, phase I, launched in 2000, targeted habitations with populations above 500 in plain areas and above 250 in hilly and northeastern states. Of 1,57,178 sanctioned habitations, 1,56,711 have been connected, with 467 remaining as of early 2025.

Phase II, launched in 2013, focused on upgrading 50,000 km of existing rural roads to improve overall network efficiency.

Phase III, launched in 2019, upgraded key routes to markets, schools, and hospitals.

Phase IV, approved in September 2024, proposed a 62,500 km of new all-weather roads to connect 25,000 still-unconnected habitations at an outlay of ₹70,125 crore, targeted for completion by 2028-29.

For 2025-26, the government allocated ₹19,000 crore to the scheme in the Union Budget. Progress across all phases is tracked through the Online Management, Monitoring, and Accounting System (OMMAS), which enables real-time visibility of physical and financial progress at the project level.

A three-tier quality check runs including field-level inspections by executing agencies, independent assessments by state quality monitors, and surprise audits by national quality monitors.