Govt to build 26 green expressways: Nitin Gadkari tells Parliament

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday informed the Upper House of the Parliament that the Government will build 26 green expressways in the country in the next three years. Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, he also said that the NHAI is not suffering from any shortage of funds.

New Delhi: The Union Government will build 26 green expressways in the country in the next three years adding that the country's road infrastructure will be comparable to that of the United States by 2024, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Asked whether the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was suffering from a shortage of funds, Gadkari informed the Upper House of the Parliament during the Question Hour that there is no such shortage of funds adding that the NHAI is in a financially comfortable position.

Elaborating further on the issue, the Union Minister said that there is enough funds with NHAI to build 5 lakh km of roads in a year. "In the next three years, we are building 26 green expressways," he said, adding that one can travel from Delhi to Dehradun, Haridwar or Jaipur in two hours thereafter.

He also claimed that once the expressways are built, one can travel from Delhi to Chandigarh in 2.5 hours, Delhi to Amritsar in four hours, Delgi to Katra in six hours, Delhi to Srinagar in eight hours and Delhi to Mumbai in 12 hours and Chennai to Bengaluru in two hours.

"Under Narendra Modi's leadership before 2024, India's road infrastructure will be the same as that in the United States, I promise. There is no shortage of funds," Gadkari said. (with Agency inputs)