MoRTH clears ₹1000-cr for highway upgrade in MP

The Union minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has announced the upgradation of 69.1km stretch of the Dewas-Ujjain-Badnawar section of state highway in Madhya Pradesh into 'National Highway' and the ministry will invest Rs. 1,000 crore on its widening and upgrading the stretch. This decision will provide good NH connectivity in Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh and will contribute to regional development by boosting the agricultural and logistics sector. NHAI will shortly issue a notification and survey work will be taken up by the road building agency soon. The existing 69.1niskm state highway which connects Dewas-Ujjain, and Dhar districts, was constructed way back in the year 2004 on build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. A proposal for this was sent by the state to the Centre earlier, and it has been approved by the Union transport ministry. Project Director ML Purbiya informed that 90% of land required for the development has already been acquired, and an amount of ₹376 crore was sanctioned. The road will be developed as a bypass route for Ingoriya, Badnagar, and Badnawar with a distance of 2.5km, 5km, & 7km respectively and the initiative by NHAI will provide better road connectivity options to the entire region.