Nitish Kumar Wears ‘Highway Crown’ for Bihar Elections 2025
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna! (Image JDU, X)
Bihar Doubles Road Length Under Nitish Kumar’s Two-Decade Tenure
By AMIT KUMAR
PATNA, June 20, 2025 – Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is taking a front-guard on Assembly poll pitch by wearing the ‘highway crown’. First arriving in Patna with an image of road builder, Kumar is once more pivoting construction of highways to win the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
The Bihar Chief Minister claims of “a remarkable transformation in road infrastructure over the past two decades, with the total road length nearly doubling” under his leadership, according to official data released by the state’s Road Construction Department.
In 2005, the total length of roads in Bihar stood at 14,468 km. “As of 2025, this has surged to approximately 26,000 km, showcasing a massive expansion that includes national highways, state highways, and major district roads (MDRs),” said the state government in a media statement issued on Friday.
Major Highway Expansion
The length of National Highways (NH) in the state has expanded from 3,629 km in 2005 to 6,147 km in 2025. Similarly, State Highways (SH) increased from 2,382 km to 3,638 km, while Major District Roads nearly doubled — from 8,457 km to 16,296 km.
This growth has been accompanied by a significant improvement in the quality and capacity of roads. “In 2005, most highways were single-lane or intermediate-lane. Now, Bihar features widespread two-lane, four-lane, and even six-lane roads,” added the state government.
The length of single-lane NHs has decreased from 764 km to just 186 km, while Double-lane NHs have grown from 1,208 km to 3,278 km, and Four- and six-lane NHs have risen to 1,704 km in 2025.
State highways have also undergone upgrades. “While the single-lane and intermediate-lane segments have reduced to 286 km and 292 km respectively, the length of two-lane SHs has risen from a mere 52 km in 2005 to a remarkable 2,786 km in 2025,” added the state government.
Bihar’s Expressway Leap
Bihar had no expressways in 2005. That is no longer the case. The state is now host to five major expressway projects sanctioned by the central government, which aim to drastically reduce travel time and spur economic growth:
- Raxaul–Haldia Expressway (408 km)
- Gorakhpur–Siliguri Expressway (417 km)
- Patna–Purnea Expressway (250 km)
- Buxar–Bhagalpur Expressway (300 km)
- Varanasi–Kolkata Expressway (161 km)
“These projects are expected to bolster Bihar’s regional connectivity and support industrial and commercial expansion across the state,” added the state government.
Target: Patna Within Five Hours
The Nitish Kumar government has set an ambitious target: to reduce travel time to Patna from any part of the state to under five hours by the end of this year. The next goal is to cut that travel time further — to four hours — connecting remote areas more efficiently with the capital.
Officials say improved road infrastructure has directly contributed to Bihar’s economic development by facilitating smoother movement of goods, services, and people. “Road building in Bihar has moved from basic connectivity to high-capacity, strategic corridors,” said a senior official from the Road Construction Department.
With expressways under construction and travel time shrinking, Bihar is now positioning itself as a growing logistics and transit hub in eastern India — a far cry from its pre-2005 infrastructure status.
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