On January 7, 2021, Union Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) informed that the Central Government has approved Rs. 5,801 Cr for new 1035 km National highway (NH) between Surat (Gujarat) and Bengaluru (Karnataka) to curb the vehicular pollution in Maharashtra’s Mumbai and Pune. It is approved under the annual plan of MoRTH.
- It should be noted that the Annual Plan for NH works in Maharashtra was approved for Rs. 2,727 Cr. Now, it has been enhanced to Rs. 5,801 Cr
- The plan also includes reconstruction of 5 major bridges and 10 minor bridges have been included at cost of Rs. 429 Cr.
Key Points:
–Apart from above, Rs 1,800 crore projects under the Central Road Fund scheme has also been sanctioned.
–Rs 1 lakh crore greenfield Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be extended till Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) to facilitate container traffic.
–Palkhi Marg’ connecting Pandharpur – Alandi and Pandharpur-Dehu Road will be constructed, which will have a parallel pedestrian track.
–In order to decongest Mumbai-Pune stretch of the National Highway, a separate North-South Highway corridor from Surat via Nashik – Ahmednagar – Solapur would be built for the traffic bound for the southern states.
–MoRTH has built 3,771 km of concrete roads in Maharashtra. The target for construction during 2020-21 is 2,500 km out of which 1,394 km have so far been completed.
Recent Related News:
i.On October 20, 2020 Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs(Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) virtually laid the foundation stone for India’s first Multi-modal Logistic Park(MMLP) at Jogighopa in Assam.
ii.On 10th December, 2020 Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Rs.266 crore 3 lane 1.5 km long Koilwar Bridge over Sone river in Bihar through video conferencing.
About Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH):
Nitin Gadkari Constituency– Nagpur, Maharashtra
Minister of State (MoS)– Vijay Kumar Singh
