NEWSCAN
MoRTH working in full capacity to better India’s highways NEW DELHI: Since the time Nitin Gadkari took charge of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in 2014, the Indian highways have seen a wave of development. Not only has the ministry managed to outperform all other ministries in terms of achieving targets, but has also managed to overcome massive financial losses which hit MoRTH in 2019. MoRTH said in a statement that it surpassed the construction target of 2,771 kilometres (km) and has constructed 3,181 km of national highways (NH) in April-August 2020. This includes 2,104 km of highways designed by state Public Works Department (PWDs), 879 km by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and 198 km by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL). In addition, 3,300 km of NH work in this year have been awarded till August, which is more than twice of the 1,367km during the same time last year, the ministry said. It added that this involves 2,167 km of NH awarded
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by PWDs, 793 km by NHAI, and 341 km by NHIDCL. During the April-August period, sanctions were issued for construction of 2,983 km of NH across the country, which includes 1,265 km by PWDs, 1,183 km by NHAI, and 535 km by NHIDCL. NHAI, earlier this week, had said that despite challenges faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had awarded projects worth `31,000 crore in the first five months of the current fiscal year.
Gadkari inaugurates 45 highway project in MP Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Government of India, on Tuesday, August 25, inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 45 highway projects in Madhya Pradesh through video conferencing. According to a release by MoRTH, the road length of these projects is 1,361 kilometers and their construction costs a total of `11,427 crore. These projects will improve connectivity, convenience and economic growth in and around the state and movement of people and goods to and from neighboring
states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, etc. will be eased. The better roads will save both time and fuel and also lower emission of pollutants. These projects will further decongest roads and enroute towns that will contribute to improving road experience. On the occasion, Gadkari said that in the year 2014, the total length of national highways was barely 5,186 km, but today it is 13,248 km. He added that development works worth `1,25,000 crore are underway in Madhya Pradesh. As much as 60 to 70 per cent of the total work has been completed on approximately Rs 30,000 crore worth road works in the State. Several of these roads are important for providing connectivity to the tourist spots and backward areas of the State, he said.
NH length in Maharashtra tripled, claims Gadkari In a press communique issued by Gadkari’s office, he claimed that the length of NH in the state of Maharashtra has more than tripled in the last six years. The NH length increased from a meagre 5,700 km to 17,749 km by the end of August 2020, marking an increase of 211 per cent. The communique added that all the districts in the state are now connected with NH. So far, NHAI and the state PWD have completed 9,281 km of roads in the state while work on 5,260 km of roads is under progress. The Government of India has spent `70,388 crore on national highways in the state so far. Gadkari also sanctioned `7,420 through Central Road Fund (CRF) on various projects. Some 166 works worth `3,820 crore have been completed. The Government of India provided `674 crore to Maharashtra under CRF in 2020-21.
