Union Ports and Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on 3 June 2026 announced that the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has cleared two highway upgrade projects on NH-347B in Madhya Pradesh. The approvals cover an upgrade of the existing intermediate lane to a 2-lane with paved shoulder standard on the Hiwarkhedi-Roshni-Ashapur-Rudhy section, and widening of the existing 2-lane to 4-lane on the Deshgaon-Julwaniya section.

In his post, Sonowal said the Cabinet 'approves the upgradation of existing intermediate lane to 2 Lane with Paved Shoulder Standard of Hiwarkhedi-Roshni-Ashapur-Rudhy Section of NH-347B and widening of existing 2 lane to 4 lane from Deshgaon-Julwaniya Section of NH-347B in Madhya Pradesh.' He tagged the announcement with #CabinetDecisions, framing it as part of the central government's continuing pipeline of road sector clearances.

Context

NH-347B is a national highway corridor running through Madhya Pradesh, and the two stretches cleared by the Cabinet form part of a broader effort to standardise capacity on existing alignments. The Hiwarkhedi-Roshni-Ashapur-Rudhy section is set to move from an intermediate lane to the 2-lane with paved shoulder configuration, a design widely deployed across central India to handle mixed freight and passenger traffic.

The Deshgaon-Julwaniya stretch will see a more substantial jump from 2-lane to 4-lane, indicating higher projected traffic volumes on that segment. Cabinet clearance is the trigger for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to finalise detailed project reports, land acquisition and tendering for the works.

Policy backdrop

The approvals sit within the lineage of the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the central highway development programme whose Phase-I was approved in 2017 with a target of 34,800 km of national highways. The programme specifically codified standards for 2-lane paved shoulders and 4-laning of existing corridors, the very templates being applied to NH-347B.

The National Infrastructure Pipeline, announced in 2019, earmarked significant funding for highway corridors in central India, including segments of the NH-347 series. Since 2014, Madhya Pradesh has received successive Cabinet nods for similar upgrades, reflecting a clear policy preference for incremental capacity addition on existing rights-of-way rather than greenfield expressways.

Stakeholders and impact

The immediate beneficiaries are commuters and freight operators using NH-347B, who currently navigate mixed-lane configurations that slow heavy vehicle movement. A 2-lane paved shoulder upgrade typically reduces breakdown-related congestion and improves overtaking safety, while a 4-lane conversion materially cuts travel time between district hubs.

For agricultural producers and small manufacturers in the Madhya Pradesh districts served by the corridor, the upgrades promise improved access to wholesale markets, industrial clusters and, downstream, port hinterlands. Local contractors and equipment suppliers stand to gain from the construction phase, while the state government benefits from improved logistics indicators that feed into investment pitches.

What's next

Attention now shifts to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, which will issue detailed project reports, fix cost estimates and float tenders for the two sections. Land acquisition timelines, particularly for the 4-laning of the Deshgaon-Julwaniya stretch, will be the next operational marker.

For the Modi government, the announcement adds to a steady drumbeat of Cabinet-cleared road projects that ministers across portfolios have been amplifying on social media. The pace at which these NH-347B upgrades move from approval to ground-breaking will signal how tightly the centre's infrastructure pipeline is tracking its stated targets in central India.