Inaugurating the EXCON trade fair in Bengaluru, the Road Transport and Highways Minister said the government would start work on the 14-lane Delhi-Meerut express highway by December.
The government will soon start work on three express highways, including the one between Delhi and Srinagar, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday. Besides, work would also begin on the Delhi-Meerut and Mumbai-Nagpur express highways.
Inaugurating the EXCON trade fair in Bengaluru, the Road Transport and Highways Minister said the government would start work on the 14-lane Delhi-Meerut express highway by December.
"(We) will construct Delhi-Srinagar express highway which will reduce travelling time to Srinagar from national capital to 6 hours from present 22 hours. Similarly Mumbai-Nagpur express highway will reduce travelling time to 6 hours from 18-19 hours," he said.
"It will be designed in such a fashion that vehicles can run on the express highway at a speed of 150 to 200 kilometre per hour. It will be access-controlled highway," he said.
The Minister also said that in the long run, the government plans to build ten express highways. Gadkari noted that road building pace is picking up and reached 18 kilometre per day now from "mere 2 kilometre a day during the UPA regime. It will reach 30 kilometre a day by March 2016".
"95 per cent of the stuck 380 road projects, when I took over, have been rolled out by addressing regulatory hurdles," he added.
Further, Gadkari said total length of national highways would be increased to 1.5 lakh kilometre by March 2016 from present 96,000 kilometre. According to the Minister, infrastructure development is picking up in the country and construction equipment manufacturers can take advantage of the tremendous opportunities.
"I urge equipment manufacturers to build ethanol and bio-diesel engine vehicles instead of diesel," the Minister said.
Noting that highways and shipping sector would create 50 lakh jobs in the next five years, Gadkari urged construction industry to impart skill training to the youth. EXCON, an international construction equipment and technology trade fair, is organised by industry body CII.
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 "Nitin Gadkari")
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