Ranchi, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari claims that India’s highway infrastructure will be at par with America’s by 2024. he/she said that for this work is being done in a mission mode in a time-bound manner and construction of green expressway and rail over bridge is also being done.
Gadkari told PTI in an interview that ‘Bharatmala-2’ would soon get the approval of the cabinet. Once approved, it will meet the needs of a strong infrastructure in the country.
Gadkari said, “I am confident that India’s highway infrastructure will be at par with America’s by 2024.” For this, work is being done in the form of a mission. Along with this, green expressway network is also being constructed. The Minister for Road Transport and Highways informed that this year Rail Over Bridge is being constructed at a cost of Rs 16,000 crore, which will be increased to Rs 50,000 crore in five years.
On the Kailash Mansarovar Highway project via Pithoragarh, Gadkari said, “93 per cent work on the Kailash Mansarovar project has been completed.” he/she said that with the completion of this project, the pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra would be able to avoid the arduous journey through high altitude terrains and the duration of the journey would also be reduced by several days. At present, it takes two-three weeks to travel to Kailash Mansarovar through Sikkim or Nepal route. On Bharatmala Phase-II, the Minister said, ”Bharatmala Phase-II is likely to be approved soon. This will further accelerate the construction of highways. Initially, about 5,000 km of highway network is envisaged under the second phase.
The Bharatmala Pariyojana is the largest infrastructure program in the country to develop about 35,000 km of National Highway corridors connecting more than 580 districts. “Seven new expressways, economic corridors and inter-corridors are being worked on in Jharkhand at a cost of Rs 70,000 crore,” Gadkari said.
Apart from this, work worth Rs 50,000 crore is being done for better connectivity with states like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, he/she said. Giving details of the projects, the minister said that for the Ranchi-Varanasi Inter-Corridor, a four-lane inter-corridor is being worked on at a cost of Rs 6,200 crore. This will significantly reduce the travel time between Ranchi and Varanasi.
Similarly, the 635-km Raipur-Dhanbad Economic Corridor is being constructed at a cost of Rs 15,000 crore. After the construction of this corridor, fast movement of coal, steel, cement and minerals will be ensured. he/she said that among other projects, 620 km access controlled green expressway is being constructed at a cost of Rs 22,000 crore. Similarly, Rs 6,300 crore will be spent on the 230-km Ranchi-Sambalpur Economic Corridor.