NHAI kick-starts construction of ₹4,215-cr six-lane highway

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has initiated work on the 132-km long six-lane Dankuni-Panagarh superhighway at an investment of ₹4,215 crore. The new highway will lead to the complete elimination of the black spots and will reduce the travel time from 2 hours to 1.2 hours. NHAI had floated the tender for the project on March 29 but has been extending the time due to the lockdown to ensure participation of maximum bidders, informed NHAI chief general manager R P Singh. The spurt in vehicular load on the national highways prompted the ministry of road transport and highways to decide on expanding the NH network and widening of the existing highways to enhance their capacity under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. The project includes access-controlled six lanes, for safe and faster movement, and service lanes on either side of the highway for ease of people and traffic. All the junctions will have elevated flyovers for the main carriageway, along with Road over Bridge (ROB), vehicular and pedestrian underpasses. The project will be executed on BOT basis and its viability largely depends on the volume of the tollable traffic.