Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday said work for 18 packages on the 1290-km-long access-controlled Delhi-Mumbai Expressway — passing through Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra — has been awarded and the road is expected to be completed in three years time.
“We have awarded work for 18 packages out of the 51 and the work has started on them. We hope to award contracts for the remaining packages too this year. We are making efforts to complete the project during our five-year tenure,” said Mr. Gadkari at the conclusion of the two-day meeting to review the various projects under the Ministry at Manesar here.
Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways General (retd.) V. K. Singh was also present.
Mr. Gadkari said the expressway would prove to be a “growth engine” for the region with logistics, educational and health hubs coming up alongside it and also create job opportunities for the youth.
‘Electric highway’
The Minister added that he also had a dream to convert the expressway into an “electric highway” like those in the European countries with buses and trucks running with electric cables.
The Minister said a National Highways Authority of India portal was also launched on Thursday to expedite and bring greater transparency into the decision-making process.
He said that 22 Greenfield Corridors of 7,500 km length were being developed. These projects were being pursued vigorously and implemented on priority.
