To ensure quicker road connectivity, the government will build 1,000 km of expressways under its National Highways Development Project (NHDP) programme, which include the Vadodara-Mumbai project.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the central government has approved a plan for constructing 1,000 km of expressways under the NHDP phase VI at a cost of Rs 16,680 crore on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis. Gadkari also said that the main criteria for selection of Expressway corridors will be the traffic volume. The 400km Vadodara-Mumbai Corridor, which has the highest density, has been accorded top priority and considered for a feasibility study.
The government has also decided that remaining 600km will be selected from the routes identified on the basis of traffic volume. The high density corridors approved under NHDP Phase-VI includes Vadodara-Mumbai stretch (400 km) in Gujarat and Maharashtra, Delhi-Meerut (66 km) on NH 58 in Delhi/UP and Bengaluru-Chennai (334 km) on NH 4 in Karnataka-Tamil Nadu.
He further said that out of 66 km length of Delhi-Meerut Expressway, 30.63 km has already been awarded in 2 packages and contract agreement is executed. In addition, the government has approved to take up one more expressway namely Eastern Peripheral Expressway for a length of 135 km in 6 packages. He added 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.