Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, announced that the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a two-package upgrade of National Highway 347B in Madhya Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 4,415.60 crore. The works will widen the Deshgaon–Julwaniya stretch from two to four lanes and upgrade the Hiwarkhedi–Roshni–Ashapur–Rudhy section to a two-lane configuration with paved shoulders, together covering more than 233 km.

Context

In his post on X, the minister said the Cabinet has cleared the upgradation of the Hiwarkhedi–Roshni–Ashapur–Rudhy section of NH-347B from an intermediate lane to a 2-lane configuration with paved shoulders, 'covering a length of 125.01 km'. The second package, the Deshgaon–Julwaniya section spanning 108.643 km, will be widened from two lanes to four.

Both packages will be executed under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), a public-private partnership format that splits capital outlay between the government and the developer. Gadkari said the corridor aims to provide 'seamless connectivity to key economic, social, and logistics nodes' across the region.

Policy backdrop

The approval slots into a broader highway-building push that has run through successive central budgets since 2014, with two-laning with paved shoulders and selective four-laning forming the bulk of capacity addition on intermediate corridors. The Hybrid Annuity Model, introduced in 2016, was designed to revive stalled highway PPPs after the build-operate-transfer pipeline weakened, and remains a favoured instrument for projects of this scale.

The minister specifically positioned the NH-347B works within the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, the multimodal infrastructure planning framework launched in October 2021. He said the upgraded corridor will enhance multimodal integration by connecting with six PM GatiShakti Economic Nodes, including 'one textile cluster, two Mega Food Parks, one industrial park, and two super thermal power plants'.

Stakeholders and impact

Gadkari said the corridor will link five social nodes, including two Aspirational Districts — Khandwa and Barwani — and three Tribal Districts — Betul, Khandwa and Khargone. The Aspirational Districts Programme, launched in 2018, identifies backward districts for focused development interventions, and Khandwa and Barwani have been part of that list.

The corridor is also designed to connect five logistics nodes, comprising 'two major railway stations, two airports, and one Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP)'. For freight operators moving cargo between central Madhya Pradesh and the western corridor toward Maharashtra and Gujarat, an upgraded NH-347B could shorten transit times and reduce vehicle operating costs.

Tribal communities along the alignment in Betul, Khandwa and Khargone stand to gain improved road access to district headquarters, mandis and health facilities. The minister said the project is expected to 'facilitate faster and more efficient movement of both goods and passengers, thereby boosting regional connectivity, economic activity, and socio-economic development'.

What's next

Attention will now shift to the tendering and financial closure of the two HAM packages, which typically determine how quickly construction can begin on the ground. The pace at which the corridor is sequenced with the listed Multi-Modal Logistics Park and the six GatiShakti economic nodes will be a key marker of whether the project delivers the multimodal integration the Cabinet note envisages.

If executed on schedule, the NH-347B upgrade could become one of the more visible examples of GatiShakti-aligned highway planning in central India, weaving aspirational and tribal districts more tightly into the country's freight and passenger network.