Govt approves ₹50,655 crore investment for eight new highways to achieve vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 | Mint

The government on Friday approved the construction of eight new highways with a total investment of ₹50,655 crore as part of its bid to become a developed country by 2047.

The project, aimed at developing infrastructure across the country, received approval from the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

The eight new highways, totalling a distance of 935km, will be spread across various economic corridors and are expected to promote industrial growth, Vaishnaw added.

These highway projects will need minimum land acquisition by using existing brownfield land, Vaishnaw said, and will generate employment of 44 million man-days.

The new access-controlled expressways, designed for high-speed traffic with regulated access, will be in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

With assembly elections approaching in Jharkhand and Maharashtra at the end of this year, the approval of road projects worth over ₹50,000 crore carries significant political weight.

The approved projects include a 68km ring road in Ayodhya for ₹3,935 crore, a 121km ring road in Guwahati for ₹5,729 crore, an 88km Agra-Gwalior corridor for ₹4,613 crore and a 231km Kharagpur-Moregram corridor for ₹10,247 crore.

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It also includes a 214km Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad corridor for ₹10,534 crore, a 137km section between Pathalgaon and Gumla for ₹4,473 crore, a 47km ring road around Kanpur for ₹3,298 crore and a 30km elevated corridor between Nashik Phata and Khed for ₹7,827 crore.

Vaishnaw said these projects were approved after analysing data from the PM Gatishakti Portal and that they will play a crucial role in the country’s economic growth.

The states will also be roped into the development of these highway projects, he said, adding, “following consultations with the states, the Centre will construct ring roads in Ayodhya and Guwahati.”

The 68km ring road in Ayodhya, designed to boost religious tourism to the Rama temple, will be developed under the hybrid annuity mode, while the four-lane, 121km ring road in Guwahati will be developed in build-operate-toll mode.

The four-lane Kharagpur-Moregram high-speed corridor will run for 231km at a cost ₹10,247 crore, Vaishnaw said, and will provide connectivity between West Bengal, Adhra Pradesh and Odisha, and the north-eastern part of the country.

The six-lane, 214km Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor, costing ₹10,534 crore, will link the Amritsar-Jamnagar and Delhi-Mumbai corridors, enhancing freight efficiency to major ports in Maharashtra, including the new Vadhavan port.

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The Centre will construct a 137km, four-lane highway between Pathalgaon and Gumla in the Raipur-Ranchi corridor, costing ₹4,473 crore, to improve connectivity between mining and manufacturing regions in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Uttar Pradesh will get one more six-lane greenfield ring road around Kanpur, Vaishnaw said. This road will be 47km long and will cost ₹3,298 crore.

The government will build a 30km-long eight-lane elevated corridor between Nashik Phata and Khed in Maharashtra worth ₹7,827 crore to facilitate freight transport between industrial areas around Pune and Nashik, Vaishnaw said.

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