Union Road Transport and Highways ministry has recently gave in principle approval to construct a new expressway between Delhi-Jind-Amritsar-Katra, passing through Haryana, an extension of National Highway-8 at a whopping cost of Rs. 60,000cr. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, Nitin Gadkari and attended by Union Steel Minister Birender Singh, Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal. The transport ministry has directed its officials to coordinate with the officials of the states concerned for conducting a survey for the projects, which would serve as corridors of development. The construction of the proposed expressway through Jind would not only reduce the distance between Delhi and Katra from 727 to 572 km, but would also serve as a new corridor of development in Haryana, claimed an official spokesperson of NHAI.
