New Delhi, June 27 -- The government is set to roll out an ambitious Rs.2 trillion plan to build a 10,000 km network of bypasses and ring roads around about 500 cities and towns over five years in a bid to ease urban congestion and improve travel time and freight movement on national highways, two people aware of the development said.

The programme, to run through FY31, marks a significant expansion of the government's earlier plan to build bypasses and ring roads around 50 cities with a population of one million or more, which was reported by Mint earlier.

The expanded initiative will extend the government's earlier focus on larger cities to tier-II and tier-III cities and towns along major highways, covering urban centres with populat...