NEW DELHI. The Centre on Friday approved eight National High-Speed Road Corridor Projects with a total length of 936 km at a capital cost of Rs 50,655 crore to improve logistics efficiency, reduce congestion and enhance connectivity across the country.
The approved projects are the six-lane Agra-Gwalior, four-lane Kharagpur-Moregram, six-lane Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad, four-lane Ayodhya Ring Road, the five-lane section between Pathalgaon and Gumla of Raipur-Ranchi, six-lane Kanpur Ring Road, four-lane Northern Guwahati Bypass and widening and improvement of existing Guwahati Bypass and eight-lane elevated Nashik Phata – Khed Corridor near Pune.
In a statement, the government said that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the development of eight important National High Speed Corridors and implementation of these projects would generate an estimated 4.42 crore mandays of direct and indirect employment.
Following the cabinet approval, Modi said it was a transformative boost to India’s infrastructure landscape.
“The Cabinet’s approval of 8 National High-Speed Road Corridor Projects at an expenditure of over Rs. 50,000 crore will have a MULTIPLIER EFFECT on our economic GROWTH and boost EMPLOYMENT opportunities. It also underlines our commitment to a futuristic and connected India,” he posted on ‘X’.
The 88-km-long six-lane Agra Gwalior National High-Speed Corridor will be developed on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) mode as a fully access-controlled 6-lane corridor at a total capital cost of Rs 4,613 crore. The project will supplement the existing four-lane National Highway to increase the traffic capacity by more than two times in the Agra-Gwalior section of the North South Corridor (Srinagar-Kanyakumari).
The corridor will enhance connectivity to key tourist destinations in Uttar Pradesh such as Taj Mahal and Agra Fort and also in Madhya Pradesh like Gwalior Fort. It will reduce the distance between Agra and Gwalior by seven percent and the travel time by 50 percent.
“140 crore Indians gave PM Modi a historic mandate. Thanks to them, a government returned to power for a third consecutive term after 60 years… Modi government laid the foundations of growth and infrastructure development in its previous two terms, in continuation of that series today cabinet took major decisions on high-speed corridor development,” Vaishnaw said at a press briefing on Cabinet decisions held in the evening.
The 231-km Kharagpur-Moregram National High-Speed Corridor will be at a total capital cost of Rs 10,247 crore. It will provide efficient connectivity for traffic between states such as West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh on one end and North-Eastern part of the country on the other.
The corridor will enable reduction in travel time from the existing 9-10 hours to 3-5 hours for freight vehicles between Kharagpur and Moregram, thereby reducing logistics cost.
Another project approved by the Cabinet on Friday is the 6-lane Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad National High-Speed Corridor, which is 214-km long. It aims to provide connectivity between two key National Corridors in the state of Gujarat, viz., Amritsar-Jamnagar Corridor and Delhi – Mumbai Expressway, thereby providing seamless connectivity for the freight vehicles originating from industrial regions of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan to the major ports in Maharashtra (JNPT, Mumbai and newly-sanctioned Vadhavan port).
The 68-km four-lane access-controlled Ayodhya Ring Road will reduce congestion on National Highways passing through the city thereby enabling fast movement of pilgrims visiting the Rama Mandir. The Ring Road will also provide seamless connectivity to national and international tourists arriving from Lucknow International Airport, Ayodhya Airport and major railway stations in the city.
The 137-km 4-lane access-controlled Pathalgaon-Gumla section of the Raipur-Ranchi Corridor is set to enhance connectivity between mining areas in Gumla, Lohardaga, Raigarh, Korba and Dhanbad and industrial and manufacturing zones located in Raipur, Durg, Korba, Bilaspur, Bokaro and Dhanbad.
The 47-km 6-lane access-controlled section of Kanpur Ring Road will enable segregation of long-distance traffic on the key National Highways, viz., NH 19 – Golden Quadrilateral, NH 27 – East West Corridor, NH 34 and upcoming Lucknow – Kanpur Expressway and Ganga Expressway from the city-bound traffic, thereby improving logistics efficiency for freight travelling between Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The 121-km Guwahati Ring Road will be developed in three sections; four-lane access-controlled Northern Guwahati Bypass (56 km), widening of the existing 4-lane bypass on NH 27 to 6 lanes (8 km), and improvement of existing bypass on NH 27 (58 km). A major bridge over the Brahmaputra river will also be constructed as a part of the project. The Guwahati Ring Road will provide seamless connectivity to long-distance traffic plying on National Highway 27 (the East West Corridor), which is the gateway to North-East Region of the country. The Ring Road will ease congestion on major National Highways around Guwahati, connecting major cities/ towns in the region — Siliguri, Silchar, Shillong, Jorhat, Tezpur, Jogigopha and Barpeta.
The 30-km 8-lane elevated National High-Speed Corridor from Nashik Phata to Khed near Pune will provide seamless high-speed connectivity for traffic originating from and heading to industrial centers of Chakan, Bhosari on NH-60 between Pune and Nashik.
“Infrastructure development is the foundation for a country’s economic prosperity and is critical for improving the quality of life of its citizens. Every rupee spent on infrastructure development has a multiplier effect of about 2.5-3.0 times on GDP,” read the statement.
It further stated that realizing the importance of infrastructure in overall economic growth of the country, the Centre has been investing heavily in building world-class road infrastructure in the country over the last ten years.