 "Delhi-Mumbai, Chambal e-ways to act as growth engines for MP: Gadkari")
Delhi-Mumbai and Chambal Expressways will serve as growth engines for Madhya Pradesh once they are completed and accelerate the state's development besides creating jobs, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will pass through Madhya Pradesh (nearly 250km), while the 404-km Chambal Expressway will link far-flung areas of MP, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Both the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and the Chambal Expressway will become growth engines for Madhya Pradesh. They will speed up the state's development and generate a lot of new employment opportunities, Gadkari said. The minister was addressing a function after inspecting the progress of under-construction Delhi-Mumbai Expressway at Jaora in Ratlam district.
Gadkari said the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is the world's longest highway having a total length of 1,350-km
This distance can be covered in just 12 hours and the road will also reduce fuel consumption by 320 million litres, which will be very beneficial for the environment, he said. The Madhya Pradesh portion of the eight-lane highway is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 8,500 crore, Gadkari said. Though originally a 12-lane highway, in the first-phase only eight are being constructed and as traffic increases it will be enhanced to 12 lanes in the second leg, he said.
Work on 106km stretch of the expressway in Madhya Pradesh has been completed, while construction of remaining 139km highway will be concluded by November 2022, Gadkari said. A 143km four-lane highway will also be constructed as part of the project to give connectivity to the Malwa region. It will go up to Indore, Dewas, Ujjain and Garoth, he said.
He said Ratlam is a major road and rail centre between Delhi and Mumbai and a large logistics hub will be developed here with help of the Madhya Pradesh government.
Once the highway linking India's financial and political capitals is completed, Jhabua and Ratlam will become prosperous, he said.
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The Chambal Expressway (also called Atal Expressway) will pass through backward areas of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Out of the 403km Chambal Expressway, 313km will pass through Madhya Pradesh, Gadkari said. This high-speed road corridor will contribute to development of areas located near it with establishment of logistics parks, industrial units, agriculture production centres and food processing facilities, among others, he added.
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