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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, approved on 19 August 2026 the upgradation of the Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi-Sonbarsa section of NH-22 in Bihar to four-lane standard.
The 82.578 km project will be built on Hybrid Annuity Mode at a total capital cost of Rs 3,590.73 crore.
It is a feeder corridor linking the India-Nepal border at Sonbarsa to Muzaffarpur on NH-27, the East-West Corridor, and will connect to the nearby Land Port at Bhithamore.
Engineering includes seven major bridges — among them a 340 m bridge over the Bagmati — three railway over bridges and two flyovers of 1,170 m and 270 m, with a design speed of 100 kmph and no at-grade median openings.
HAM is the public-private partnership structure the government introduced in January 2016 after the Build-Operate-Transfer (Toll) model stalled, because developers were unwilling to raise the entire project cost and then depend on uncertain toll collections to recover it. Under HAM the government, through NHAI, contributes about 40 per cent of the project cost during construction, released in instalments as milestones are met; the developer raises the remaining 60 per cent, of which a portion is equity and the rest debt. Crucially, the government retains the tolling right and therefore the traffic risk, and repays the developer through fixed bi-annual annuity payments spread over the operations period, along with separate operation and maintenance payments. The developer's return no longer depends on how many vehicles use the road. That is why HAM sits between EPC, where the government pays the whole cost and bears every risk, and BOT (Toll), where the developer bears construction, financing and traffic risk together.
Simple Analogy: In EPC the government hires a builder and pays the bill. In BOT the builder funds the road and gambles on how many cars turn up. In HAM the government pays part of the bill upfront and then pays the builder fixed instalments — the builder still has to build well and cheaply, but is not betting on traffic.
| Aspect | EPC | BOT (Toll) | HAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who funds construction | Government funds the entire cost | Developer funds the entire cost | Government about 40 per cent during construction, developer the remaining 60 per cent |
| Who collects toll | Government | Developer, for the concession period | Government |
| Who bears traffic risk | Government | Developer | Government |
| How the developer is paid | Contract payments for the work done | Toll revenue over the concession | Fixed bi-annual annuity payments plus separate operation and maintenance payments |
| Typical rationale | Simple works where private financing is unnecessary | Revenue-rich corridors with predictable traffic | Corridors that need private capital but cannot promise reliable toll flows |
Develops, maintains and manages national highways; the counterparty that funds the government share and makes annuity payments under HAM concessions
Clears major economic proposals including large highway investments; chaired by the Prime Minister and constituted by him under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules rather than by the Constitution
Develops and manages Integrated Check Posts and land ports on India's land borders; the release cites the Land Port at Bhithamore as the cross-border facility this corridor will feed
An umbrella highway development programme focused on economic corridors, border and international connectivity, coastal and port roads, and expressways
Key: Phase-I was approved in October 2017 and envisaged 24,800 km of new national highway corridors plus completion of 10,000 km of balance National Highways Development Project works, taking the total to 34,800 km at an estimated cost of about Rs 5.35 lakh crore. Border connectivity corridors of exactly the kind approved here are one of its named components
Integrate infrastructure planning across ministries on a shared GIS platform to cut logistics cost
Key: Launched on 13 October 2021, built on seven engines — railways, roads, ports, waterways, airports, mass transport and logistics infrastructure — with 16 ministries on the platform. This project's alignment was assessed against Gati Shakti's Economic, Social and Logistic Nodes, which is why the release counts five, four and two of them respectively
Attract private capital into highway construction while keeping traffic risk with the government
Key: Introduced in January 2016; the government contributes about 40 per cent of project cost during construction and repays the balance through fixed bi-annual annuities over the operations period
The alignment runs north from Muzaffarpur in north Bihar through Sitamarhi to Sonbarsa on the India-Nepal border, crossing the Bagmati — a Himalayan river that rises in Nepal and flows through the Sitamarhi tract before joining the Ganga system — on a 340 m major bridge. Muzaffarpur is the southern anchor, sitting on NH-27, the East-West Corridor. The release also names NH-31 and NH-122 as connecting corridors, the Barauni industrial zone in Begusarai district as an industrial destination, and riverine logistics hubs on the Ganga. On the cultural side, the corridor improves access to the Buddhist Circuit and to Punaura Dham at Sitamarhi, traditionally identified as the birthplace of Sita, along with the Baba Garibnath temple at Muzaffarpur. Both Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi are counted in the release as aspirational districts.
Sonbarsa and the Bhithamore land port sit on the open India-Nepal border; road upgrades here feed the same trade and people-movement agenda as the Integrated Check Posts programme
HAM is the standard comparison point against EPC and BOT in questions on infrastructure financing and risk allocation
Both Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi are aspirational districts, so the corridor doubles as a backward-region connectivity intervention
The corridor is presented as improving access to the Buddhist Circuit, the Ministry of Tourism's themed route linking sites associated with the Buddha's life across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
GS Paper 3 > Infrastructure > Roads; Investment Models
General Awareness > Current Affairs > Cabinet Decisions
General Awareness > Infrastructure Financing and PPP Models
General Awareness > Infrastructure Projects
CCEA highway approvals appear several times a year; the HAM-versus-BOT-versus-EPC distinction is a perennial infrastructure question
A PPP model introduced in January 2016 in which the government funds about 40 per cent of construction cost, keeps the tolling right and traffic risk, and repays the developer through fixed bi-annual annuities
A gap in the central divider allowing vehicles to cross or turn at road level; eliminating them, as in this project, raises safe operating speed
A facility with integrated customs, immigration and cargo handling at a land border crossing, developed by the Land Ports Authority of India
An economic, social or logistics location mapped on the Gati Shakti platform against which a proposed project's connectivity benefit is assessed