Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that as a part of efforts to boost road infrastructure for faster connectivity, the Centre is planning to start work on 10 world-class express highways on the pattern of Mumbai-Pune Express Highway, which will not only reduce travel time but also propel country's economic growth. He also said that most of the proposed ten projects including the about Rs 6,000 crore 260-km Bengaluru-Chennai expressway will be concrete cement highways.
The proposed projects include Nagpur-Mumbai, Bangalore-Chennai, Baroda-Mumbai, Katra-Amritsar and Ludhiana-Delhi. Gadkari said that the Nagpur-Mumbai express highway, connecting two major cities Nagpur and Aurangabad in Maharashtra with capital city Mumbai, will also save significant time. Ludhiana-Delhi expressway is proposed on new alignment linking the national Capital with Ludhiana, which would also have a separate node to connect Chandigarh and the same is likely to reduce distance between Delhi and Ludhiana by 50 km.
The minister further stated that all these express highways are going to be world class matching the quality and specifications in advanced nations and once completed would result in huge savings in fuel cost. Gadkari said his Ministry is committed to contributing at least 2 per cent to the GDP besides aimed at reducing accidents by more than 50 per cent in the next two years.