Eye on 2019 elections: Nitin Gadkari sets stiff deadlines for road projects

The minister threatened to rescind remaining projects in states in which the older ones or those that are stuck are showing no signs of completing

Union Road Minister Nitin Gadkari has turned up the heat on states and directed them to complete around 700 highway projects before March next year, ostensibly to highlight the work done by him in his five-year tenure before electioneering starts.

In a meeting on Tuesday, the minister took stock of the projects being executed in states by the road ministry, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL).

There are 692 projects of 9,558 km, currently under various stages of execution, and the minister has directed the states concerned and the two