India, in the next two years, will be on green expressways, at par with the US, United Kingdom and Australian in terms of road infrastructure. Union Minister of Transport and MSME Nitin Gadkari said the Government’s focus is on critical infrastructure building through an integrated approach.
In an interview with PTI, he revealed that 22 green expressways at an estimated cost of Rs 3.10 lakh crore comprising 7,500 km would be executed in the next couple of years. Gadkari said to take India’s infrastructure to the next level it has been decided to work on it in an integrated manner as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. The Government wants to tap full potential while building newer highways by laying optic fibre, transmission line and gas pipes, he said.
The minister also said that talks are in an advanced stage for building Rs 8,250 crore Chambal Expressway in Madhya Pradesh, which is a first of its kind in collaboration of the state government. This project is expected to be a game-changer for the poor and tribals living in far-flung areas of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Work is in full swing for Delhi-Mumbai, which will be India’s longest expressway at 1,320 km and is slated to reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai from 24 hours to 13 hours. The Z-Morh Tunnel project in J&K that had been stalled for years is set to resume. “Z-Morh tunnel work was stuck. I have cleared it. Work on Zojila tunnel will start in two months,” Gadkari said. Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) emerged as the lowest bidder for the prestigious Zojila Pass tunnel to provide all-year connectivity between J&K and Ladakh union territories.
“Given the pace of work on critical infrastructure, including strategic tunnels, bridges and highways, I am confident that whatever work we are doing in coming the next two years you will see a changed India. Roads, tunnels, bridges which we see in the US, UK, Germany and Australia, the same kind of work will be seen in our country,” Gadkari said. Moreover, the 404 km project providing cross-connectivity with the Golden Quadrilateral’s Delhi-Kolkata corridor, North-South Corridor, East-West Corridor and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will prove to be the newest model of infrastructure development jointly between the states and the Center, he said.
However, the works are not coming easy. There have been some obstructions in the execution of highway projects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gadkari said the ministry has overcome the hurdles and pace of implementation of projects has been expedited.
