Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of various Highway projects as part of a new economic corridor worth about Rs 20 thousand crore in Haryana today through webcast.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Gadkari said, these projects will benefit people of Haryana in big way by providing smooth connectivity within the State, as well as to other States like Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The Minister also said that these important projects will decongest big cities reducing travel time. It will take about 2 hrs to reach Delhi Airport from Chandigarh against 4 hrs now. The projects will also save on time, fuels and cost, as also boost development in backward areas of the State.

The projects inaugurated include the 35.45 km 4-lane Rohna/Hasangarh to Jhajjar section of NH 334B costing Rs 1183 crore, the 70 km 4-laning of Punjab-Haryana Border to Jind section of NH 71 costing Rs 857 crore, and the 85.36 km 2-lane with paved shoulders Jind-Karnal Highway on NH 709 costing Rs 200 crore.

The Minister also called upon Haryana CM to join in the efforts for developing industrial clusters including MSMEs, smart cities and smart villages as also to develop Khadi and Village industries alongside the express way projects particularly the new Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

Haryana Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar thanked Shri Gadkari for honouring the State’s requests for roads. He said, these projects will have positive impact on both the industry and the business in the State. He attributed the State’s development to its vast road network and transport facilities.

Background

The Prime Minister has conceived Rs 100 lakh crore worth of infrastructure development towards achieving the five trillion economy. This would also help in realizing government’s goal for providing 5 crore jobs through MSMEs in next 5 years and enhancing KVIC turn over manifold from present level of Rs. 88000 crores per annum.

This is in line with the efforts for developing industrial clusters including MSMEs, smart cities and smart villages as also to develop Khadi and Village industries alongside the express way projects particularly the new Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

In 2014, total NH length in Haryana was 2050 kilometre, which has now been brought up to 3237 kms. The NH density of 75 km per 1000 sq km is the highest among the major States of the country. Four major corridors are being developed in Haryana, which include two brownfield projects of Jind-Gohana-Sonipat and UP/Haryana Border-Rohna-Jhajjar. The other two are greenfield projects – Ambala-Kotputli 304 km and Gurugram Rewari-Narnaul-Rajasthan Border 132 km. Apart from these, several important projects have been taken up in the Delhi NCR areas around Haryana. These include: the 1350 km Delhi-Mumbai Expressway costing about Rs one lakh crore, the 600 km Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway costing Rs 30,000 crore, the 30 km Dwarka Expressway costing over Rs 8,000 crore, the 21 km Gurugram-Sohna Road costing Rs 1630 crore, the 28 km Ambala Ring Road, and the 30 km Karnal Ring Road. In addition, other NH projects of 410 km are proposed, which will be awarded by next year. In the next 2-3 years, 1550 km long Highways and Expressways will be developed at an investment of Rs 60,000 crore. Out of this, about Rs 12,000 crore is being distributed as compensation amount to land holders in Haryana.