The current government’s project to connect the National Capital and the Financial Capital via a high-speed corridor seems to be in the fast lane. The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highway, Nitin Gadkari, said at the inauguration of the three-day International Centre for Automotive Technology summit that the Delhi-Mumbai expressway is on a fast track.
Rs 1 lakh crore has been allocated for the project, the acquisition of land for the signal-free expressway is nearly complete and construction of the road itself will begin soon, said Gadkari. The Delhi-Mumbai high-speed road corridor will connect Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra and be the longest axis control expressway. In addition to cutting down travel time between the two cities (to about 12 hours) and help vehicles consume less fuel (due to the high quality of the roads), the expressway will also help in the agricultural and industrial growth of these states.
The minister also said that about 30km of road are being constructed every day across the nation. The KMP, KGP and other national highway projects have been completed while the Dwarka Expressway, ring road in Delhi and the southern peripheral road (SPR) are still under development.