Government Green Lights High-Speed Road Corridor Projects Worth Almost Rs 60,000 Crore

The Cabinet on Friday approved national high-speed road corridor projects worth Rs 50,655 crore to improve logistics efficiency, reduce congestion, and enhance connectivity across the country.

The eight projects will cover a length of 936 kilometres, said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a briefing.

The 88-kilometre six-lane Agra-Gwalior National High-Speed Corridor will be constructed at a cost of Rs 4,613 crore, and is expected to reduce the travel time by 50%, the Cabinet said in the statement. It will reduce the distance between Agra and Gwalior by 7% and thereby bring in a substantial reduction in logistics cost.

The four-lane Kharagpur-Moregram National High-Speed Corridor, that will cost Rs 10,247 crore, will help transform the economy of West Bengal and the North-East. The corridor will enable reduction in travel time from existing 9 to 10 hours to 3 to 5 hours for freight vehicles between Kharagpur and Moregram, thereby reducing logistics cost.

The 214-kilometre six-lane Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad National High-Speed Corridor has been allocated Rs 10,534 crore to help port connectivity and reduce logistics cost. It will further reduce the distance between Tharad and Ahmedabad by 20% and the travel time by 60%.

The 68-kilometre four-lane Ayodhya Ring Road will receive Rs 3,935 crore, he added. This project is expected to improve the connectivity between tourist locations, airports and railway stations in the city.

The 137-kilometre four-lane section between Pathalgaon and Gumla of the Raipur-Ranchi National High-Speed Corridor will receive Rs 3,298 crore. The six-lane Kanpur Ring Road, stretching 47 kilometres, has been allocated Rs 3,298 crore, and the 121-kilometre Northern Guwahati Bypass will receive Rs 5,729 crore, Vaishnaw said, adding that the Nashik Phata-Khed corridor near Pune has been allocated Rs 7,827 crore.

The Union Cabinet expects the Kanpur Ring Road to help decongest highway networks around the city, while the Raipur-Ranchi National High-Speed Corridor will help unlock the growth of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Guwahati Ring Road will also help improve the access to North-East, according to the statement released by the Cabinet.

The 8-Lane elevated flyover corridor section between Pune and Nashik will help improve logistics.

The government in the last decade has increased the total capital investments in National Highways, including private investment, six times to Rs 3.1 lakh crore, in comparison to Rs 50,000 crore in 2013-14.

The average annual construction of National Highways has also increased by about 2.4 times from about 4,000 km in 2004-14 to about 9,600 km in 2014-24.