Centre clears Rs.10,000 cr e-way project

Injecting a major road infra booster to the Chennai–Salem sector, the Union government and Tamil Nadu state government have recently decided to build a new Rs.10,000 crore Green Express Corridor to connect twin cities. The new corridor, which has been planned via Harur and Tiruvannamalai, will reduce both the distance and travel time, as against the existing two routes — one via Ulundurpet and Athur and another via Vellore and Krishnagiri. The new route will be an Access Controlled Green Express Corridor and will connect Tiruvannamalai, thereby, the move will not just only reduce the distance by about 60 km, from the present 360 km, but also culminate travel time from six hours to only 3 hours. The road stretch will be the first such project to be undertaken in Tamil Nadu, on the lines of the Mumbai–Pune Expressway, Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister, Nitin Gadkari said that besides the Salem-Chennai project, the Chennai- Bengaluru Express Corridor is also being taken up on fast track basis.