Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari accepted the Punjab state government’s demand for including Amritsar in an expressway project that will connect Delhi and Katra, Jammu & Kashmir. In this regard, a Greenfield connectivity will be developed in Punjab stretch of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway to Amritsar City from Nakodar in Jalandhar (Punjab) via five historic towns of Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib and Tarn Taran.
- Also, the road from Amritsar to Gurdaspur would be fully developed and made completely signal free.
- It should be noted that this expressway is a part of Bharatmala Pariyojana with a total outlay of Rs 60,000 crore while its first phase involve investment of about Rs 25,000 crore i.e. Delhi-Amritsar.
How will this expressway ease connectivity in Punjab?
This Greenfield alignment will not only provide shortest and alternate express connectivity to Amritsar city but also to other religious centres of Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib as well as the recently developed Dera Baba Nanak/Kartarpur Sahib International Corridor in Punjab.
- Travel time from Amritsar to Delhi International airport would reduce to about four hours from the present about eight hours.
- Traffic would have the option to travel to Gurdaspur onwards from Nakodar, i.e. via Amritsar or via Kartarpur.
Background:
The Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway was proposed by Govt. of J&K, but due to some reasons Amritsar was excluded from the expressway project. After that on the request of the Punjab state government, Centre agreed for amending the alignment of the expressway to connect Amritsar and Delhi looking at the religious importance of the former.
- Now, the Expressway includes 2 sections. One is Delhi-Amritsar and the other is Delhi-Katra.
About Punjab:
Capital– Chandigarh
Chief Minister– Captain Amarinder Singh
