Union Food Processing Minister Chirag Paswan on Wednesday said the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the upgradation and widening of the Hivarkhedi-Roshni-Ashapur-Rudhi and Deshgaon-Julwania sections of National Highway 347B in Madhya Pradesh. The minister, who is also national president of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), shared the announcement on X, pegging the project cost at Rs 4,415.60 crore for a stretch of 233.653 km.

Context

In his post, Paswan wrote that under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, the Cabinet had cleared the corridor's strengthening along with a 16.20 km greenfield bypass in Khargone district. He said the project will, in his words, 'improve connectivity, reduce travel time, strengthen road safety and give new momentum to the economic, industrial and logistic development of Madhya Pradesh'.

The original Hindi line — 'सड़क अवसंरचना को सुदृढ़ किया जाएगा' (road infrastructure will be strengthened) — frames the upgrade as part of a wider push to four-lane secondary national highways across the state. The post carried the hashtag #CabinetDecisions.

Policy backdrop

The NH-347B upgrade sits within the central government's broader highway expansion architecture. The Bharatmala Pariyojana, approved by the Cabinet in 2017, remains the umbrella programme for national highway corridor development, with an emphasis on bypasses, four-laning and freight efficiency.

It is also aligned with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, launched in 2021 to synchronise road, rail and logistics infrastructure planning. Madhya Pradesh, owing to its location on key east-west and north-south corridors, has repeatedly featured in cabinet approvals for such upgrades.

Stakeholders and impact

The most direct beneficiaries are residents of Khargone and adjoining districts in western Madhya Pradesh, where the greenfield bypass is expected to divert through-traffic away from congested town centres. Industrial clusters and logistics operators moving goods along the corridor stand to gain from faster turnaround and improved safety.

For the state government, the approval adds to a pipeline of central road projects that feed into Madhya Pradesh's positioning as a logistics hub between northern and western India. For Paswan, amplifying a highways decision outside his Food Processing portfolio underlines the role allied National Democratic Alliance leaders play in projecting the Union government's infrastructure record.

What's next

Attention will now turn to the tendering timeline and land acquisition progress for the two NH-347B packages, which will be executed by the National Highways Authority of India. The pace at which the Khargone bypass alignment is finalised will be a near-term indicator of when construction can begin on the ground.

Further cabinet notes on complementary stretches in the same corridor would signal whether the NH-347B upgrade is a standalone clearance or part of a sequenced rollout across western Madhya Pradesh. Either way, the approval reinforces the centre's continuing tilt towards capital spending on road infrastructure as a growth lever.