New Delhi, Aug 2: The government on Friday approved eight national high-speed road corridor projects of length 936 km entailing investment of Rs 50,655 crore to improve logistics efficiency and connectivity across the country, an official statement said.
The implementation of these eight important projects will generate an estimated 4.42 crore mandays of direct and indirect employment, it said.
The projects approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs include 6-Lane Agra-Gwalior National High-Speed Corridor, 4-Lane Kharagpur-Moregram National High-Speed Corridor, 6-Lane Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad National High-Speed Corridor, 4-lane Ayodhya Ring Road, 4-Lane Section between Pathalgaon and Gumla of Raipur-Ranchi National Highspeed Corridor, and 6-Lane Kanpur Ring Road.
On the new projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet on X said: “'Tranformative' boost to India's infrastructure landscape!
“The Cabinet's approval of 8 National High-Speed Road Corridor Projects at an expenditure of over Rs 50,000 crore will have a ‘multiplier' effect on our economic ‘growth' and boost ‘employment' opportunities. It also underlines our commitment to a futuristic and connected India.”
According to the release, the 88 km Agra-Gwalior National High-Speed Corridor will be developed on build-operate- transfer (BOT) mode as a fully access-controlled 6-lane corridor at a total capital cost of Rs 4,613 crore.
The project will supplement the existing 4-lane National Highway to increase the traffic capacity by more than two times in the Agra-Gwalior section of the North South Corridor (Srinagar-Kanyakumari), it said.
The corridor will enhance connectivity to key tourist destinations in Uttar Pradesh (Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, etc) and Madhya Pradesh (Gwalior Fort, etc). It will reduce the distance between Agra and Gwalior by 7 per cent and the travel time by 50 per cent, thereby bringing in a substantial reduction in logistics cost.
The 231-km Kharagpur-Moregram National High-Speed Corridor will be developed in Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) at a total capital cost of Rs 10,247 crore.
The new corridor will supplement the existing 2-lane National Highway to increase the traffic capacity by about five times between Kharagpur and Moregram, the release said. It will provide efficient connectivity for traffic between states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh etc. on one end and North-Eastern part of the country on the other, the release said.
The 214-km Tharad – Deesa – Mehsana – Ahmedabad National High-Speed Corridor will be developed in build – operate – transfer (BOT) mode at a total capital cost of Rs 10,534 crore.
