Centre Plans Rs 10 Lakh Cr Investment To Revamp Highways: Nitin Gadkari

The central government is planning to invest Rs 10 lakh crore over the next two years to strengthen the network of highways across the country, with special emphasis on the Northeastern corridor, where roads will compete with those in the US, Nitin Gadkari said.

The Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, as cited by a PTI report said that the Centre is working to transform the country's infrastructure drastically in the next two years, so as to match the best in the world.

He added that the government is planning to "take up projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore in the next two years to strengthen highways across the country, with special emphasis on enhancing infrastructure in the Northeast and the border areas. In the coming two years, highways in the Northeast will be on a par with US roads."

There is an urgent need to change road infrastructure according to the minister, especially in the Northeast, given its difficult terrain and proximity to borders, he added.

"It is our endeavour to transform the country's infrastructure drastically so that it matches with the best in the world," he said, while emphasising that works are in pipelines in all states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Gadkari added that 784 highway projects will be implemented in the eastern states at a cost of about Rs 3,73,484, over a distance of 21,355 km.

These include the projects of the Ministry if Road Transport and Highways, the National Highways Authority  of India (NHAI) and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), he added.

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