The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government wants to more than double the length of national highways from 96,000 to two lakh km, said Nitin Gadkari, the minister for road transport and highways.
According to Gadkari, road construction during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was a mere two km a day. This has now gone up to 18 km a day and he wants to take this to 30 km a day.
The ministry has awarded 700 national highway projects worth Rs1.3 lakh crore, he said. The government has also fast-tracked the ambitious ‘Bharat Mala’ programme.
Gadkari said the government has sanctioned projects worth Rs1 lakh crore for the north-east and the projects would be completed in five years. Efforts were also on to improve cross-border road connectivity to ensure that passengers can travel to neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Thailand.
Source : BS Motoring