NCR leads infra projects

Gurugram: Among key National Highway (NH) projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the Haryana section of the landmark Dwarka Expressway. The total length of Dwarka Expressway is 29 km, out of which 18.9 km falls in Haryana, while the remaining 10.1 km is in Delhi. This expressway will help improve traffic flow and ease congestion between Delhi and Gurugram on NH-48. The prime minister also held a road show here. On March 9, 2019 the then Union ministers, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari had laid the foundation stone for Dwarka Expressway. Dwarka Expressway is India’s first elevated 8-lane access control urban expressway, being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 9,000 crore, as part of the Centre’s Rs 60,000 crore highway development plan in the NCR to decongest the national capital.

The Haryana section of Dwarka Expressway has been built at a cost of around Rs 4,100 crore and includes two packages of 10.2-km Delhi-Haryana Border to Basai Rail-over-Bridge (ROB) and 8.7-km Basai ROB to Kherki Daula. It will also provide direct connectivity to the IGI Airport in Delhi and Gurugram Bypass.

Other major projects that were inaugurated by the prime minister include the 9.6-km six-lane Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II)- Package 3 from Nangloi - Najafgarh Road to Sector 24 Dwarka section in Delhi. That apart, Modi inaugurated three packages of Lucknow Ring Road developed at cost of about Rs 4,600 crore in Uttar Pradesh; Anandapuram - Pendurthi - Anakapalli section of NH16 developed at a cost of Rs 2,950 crore in Andhra Pradesh; Kiratpur to Nerchowk section of NH-21 (2 packages) worth Rs 3,400 crore in Himachal Pradesh; Dobaspet-Heskote section (two packages) worth Rs 2,750 crore in Karnataka. As many as 42 other projects worth Rs 20,500 crore in different states were inaugurated across the country.

The prime minister also laid the foundation stone for various NH projects across the country. These include 14 packages of Bengaluru - Kadappa - Vijayawada Expressway worth Rs 14,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh; six packages of Belgaum - Hungund - Raichur Section of NH-748A worth Rs 8,000 crore in Karnataka; three packages of Shamli - Ambala Highway worth Rs 4,900 crore in Haryana; two packages of Amritsar - Bathinda corridor worth Rs 3,800 crore in Punjab; along with 39 other projects worth Rs 32,700 crore in different states. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari were present at the event.