A network of high-speed corridors and expressways is being laid rapidly in the country, but this work is still far from being completely completed. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are going to be among the states with the largest high-speed road network in the country in the coming years. The central government told the Lok Sabha that so far 10,389 km of national high-speed corridor and expressway projects have been allotted across the country. Of these, 4,809 km of road has been completed, while construction work is still going on on 5,580 km.
The government says that after the completion of these projects, travel between states will be easier, the cost of freight transportation will reduce and industrial development will also get a new impetus. Besides, there are many expressways which have been approved but construction on them has not started yet. In response to a question asked in Parliament, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government is continuously reviewing the National High-Speed Corridor and Greenfield Expressway projects.
Monitoring of the project is going on
For this, regular monitoring is done at project level, state level and central level. Technology is also being used to overcome hurdles like Project Monitoring Group (PMG) portal, land acquisition, environment clearance and railway related approvals. The government says that the purpose of these reforms is to complete road projects on time, so that a fast and safe road network can be developed in the country.
- 10,389 kilometers of national high-speed corridors and expressways allocated
- 4,809 kilometer road ready
- 5,580 km projects under construction
- 1,022 kilometer expressway approved, but allotment still pending
- 32 kilometer access control highway approved to connect Wadhawan Port
How much work has been completed and how much is left?
According to the government, a total of 10,389 km of national high-speed corridor and expressway projects have been allotted across the country. Of these, 4,809 km of road has been commissioned, while construction of 5,580 km is still going on. This means that a large part of the total projects are still in the construction stage.
Report card of High Speed Corridor (Vipin Kumar/HT via Getty Images)
In which states the most work was done?
According to state-wise data, Rajasthan leads, where 1,340 km of high-speed corridors have been allotted. Of these, 1,192 kilometers have been completed. After this, the names of Punjab (923 km), Andhra Pradesh (893 km), Uttar Pradesh (884 km) and Haryana (839 km) are included. Whereas projects of 589 kilometers are registered in Bihar, 764 kilometers in Gujarat and 233 kilometers in Maharashtra.
In which states construction is still going on?
According to government data, maximum 774 km of roads are under construction in Punjab, 496 km in Uttar Pradesh, 589 km in Bihar, 585 km in Andhra Pradesh and 445 km in Telangana. It is clear from this that in the coming years we may see a major expansion in the expressway network in these states.
On which projects work has not started yet?
The government told Parliament that several National High-Speed Corridor projects with a total length of 1,022 kilometers across the country have been approved, but their construction work has not started yet as the allocation of the projects is pending. Apart from Kanpur-Kabarai High-Speed Corridor (118 km) in Uttar Pradesh, important projects like Ganga Elevated Corridor (46 km) and Varuna Elevated Corridor (43 km) are included in this category. With the construction of these roads, connectivity is expected to improve in Purvanchal and Bundelkhand regions, but for now people will have to wait for their commencement.
National High Speed Corridor Expressway Projects
Similarly, in Maharashtra, Nashik-Ahmednagar-Solapur-Akkalkot high-speed corridor (374 km), Nashik Phata-Khed (30 km) and Pagote-Chowk (29 km) projects are also awaiting allotment despite getting approval. Apart from this, some important high-speed corridor projects related to Gujarat and Assam-Meghalaya are also in this stage. The government says that after the completion of the allotment process, construction work will be started on these projects, which will give a big boost to goods and passenger transport along with fast and safe road connectivity in the future.
How will Wadhawan Port be connected?
The government told the Lok Sabha that an important project has been approved to connect the proposed Wadhawan Port of Maharashtra with the country’s high-speed road network. Under this, a 32 kilometer long four-lane access control highway will be built, which will be directly connected to Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway and National Highway-48 (Ahmedabad-Mumbai route). With the construction of this road, freight transportation to Wadhawan Port will speed up and there will be a big improvement in the connectivity of the port.
According to the government, the total cost of this project is Rs 4,362.39 crore and it will be developed on the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) model. The government also informed that the contract for this project has been awarded. It is expected that after its completion, Wadhawan Port will get direct connectivity with the major expressway network of the country, which will reduce logistics costs, increase the speed of goods transportation and will also greatly benefit the maritime trade of Maharashtra.
What is the government doing to prevent delays?
The government says that many reforms have been made to reduce delays in road projects. To speed up the land acquisition process, ‘BhoomiRashi’ portal and GIS based land acquisition plan are being used. At the same time, the ‘Parivesh’ portal has also been improved so that environment and forest related approvals can be obtained quickly.
Apart from this, the system of online approval of designs (GAD) of Road Over Bridge (ROB) and Road Under Bridge (RUB) has been started from Railways. The government is also holding regular review meetings with the state governments and other concerned agencies, so that the hurdles in the projects can be removed in time and the construction work is completed on time.
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