Govt ready to award ₹3.1-tr NHs under Bharatmala

The road transport and highways ministry is in the process of awarding 7,500 km of new highways projects, with an investment of ₹3.1 trillion, as part of the second phase of Bharatmala Pariyojana. The projects include six expressways of 2,250 km, with an investment of ₹1.45 trillion and 16 greenfield corridors of 5,250 km at ₹1.65 trillion. Construction has been initiated on three corridors, which will include the Delhi-Mumbai expressway, Trans Rajasthan and Trans Haryana and will be completed by 2022. Minister Nitin Gadkari said that such projects are expected to provide alternate routes to diversify traffic, provide connectivity to major towns, reduce distance and travel time, and give a thrust to backward regions. Construction of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway is underway in 13 packages for which 90% land acquisition has already been completed. It will be the country's largest expressway at 1,320 km and is expected to almost halve the travel time from the two metros to 13 hours from the current 24 hours.