The Government of India has planned to award Rs 3 lakh crore for road projects to give big push for infrastructure development. It has also planned to increase the construction to 30 kilometer per day. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced this funding plans.

The Minister said, within one year of NDA rule, the road construction has raised to 14 km per day from mere 2 km in UPA rule. Other than upgrading the National Highways, GOI has also panning to construct a 1000 km road, under the Chaar Dham Yatra Project, to connect the four holy towns of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath with highways. The estimated cost of this project is Rs 11,000 crore.

Under a new scheme named “Bharat Mala”, GOI is planning to construct 5,000-km of road network all along the borders and coastal areas. The estimated cost of this project is Rs 5000 crore. Other projects include Eastern by-Pass Project to de-congest New Delhi, expressways from Hyderabad to Bengaluru and Amritsar to Katra.. etc.

The Minister said, the project amount ie 3 lakh crore will be given via PPP, hybrid or EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) model in the next six months. Japan has offered India a soft loan of Rs 2 lakh crore for investing in infrastructure.

GK Questions

Name the shortest National Highway in India? NH 47 A.  It covers a distance of 6 km between Kundannoor and Willingdon Island in Kochi, Kerala.

Name the longest National Highway of India? NH 7. It covers a distance of 2369 km between Varanasi and Kanyakumari.