Delhi-Mumbai expressway on the cards, Govt to allocate Rs 1 lakh crore for it

Similarly, to ease traffic in East Delhi, Delhi-Meerut Expressway was envisaged, and its Delhi-Dasna portion will also be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on the same day by a road show.

In a bid to reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai, the Union Government is planning to construct a dedicated expressway between the two metros. The ministry of road transport and highways has said that the new expressway would be built at a cost of Rs 1 lakh crore. Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari has also reportedly spoken about plans to build Chambal expressway that would be connected to the Delhi-Mumbai expressway.

"A sum of Rs 1 lakh crore will be spent on this expressway ... Nitin Gadkari outlined major initiatives of his ministry for de-congestion of Delhi NCR. A total of ten projects are underway costing Rs 35,600 crore," the ministry of road transport and highways said in a statement.

An ambitious scheme of developing Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways around Delhi was taken up, and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 29, reported PTI.

About 40,000 commercial vehicles enter Delhi on a daily basis, which causes pollution and congestion in the city-state, Gadkari, who is also holding the portfolio of water resources and Ganga rejuvenation, said in the statement.

Similarly, to ease traffic in East Delhi, Delhi-Meerut Expressway was envisaged, and its Delhi-Dasna portion will also be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on the same day by a roadshow.

Gadkari said work on the signal-free corridor from Dhaula Kuan to Airport has been awarded at a cost of Rs 260 crore.

He said, eight-lane fully access-controlled Dwarka Expressway is being developed in four packages. While three packages have already been awarded, the work on the expressway is likely to start in a month's time. Total investment in the project is Rs 9,500 crore.

Additionally, under improvement of Mahipalpur at Rangpuri, a bypass is being envisaged to connect Dwarka/ NH8, he said.

Regarding development of major junctions on NH8 in Gurugram like the flyover and underpass at IFFCO Chowk, Signature Tower intersection, Rajiv Chowk and Hero Honda Chowk, the minister said the work costing Rs 1,000 crore has been substantially completed.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs