Mumbai, July 28 -- The government has awarded a total of 10,389 km of National High-Speed Corridors across the country, of which 4,809 km have been completed and 5,580 km are under implementation, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways informed Parliament in a reply. The reply was submitted by the Union minister in Lok Sabha and set out progress and state-wise data. The ministry said the programme covers awarded, completed and ongoing stretches and identified regions where execution is pending.
It stated that a framework has been established for regular review of all ongoing national highway works including National High-Speed Corridors and Greenfield Expressways, with reviews at project, state and central levels involving stakeholders. The ministry indicated that technological interventions are being used to identify hindrances and delays at project level, including monitoring through the Project Monitoring Group portal. It also noted improvements in land acquisition, environmental clearances and coordination with railways to enable faster approvals for road over and under bridge designs.
According to state-wise figures provided by the ministry, Rajasthan leads completed corridor length with 1,192 km out of 1,340 km awarded. Haryana has completed 615 km of 839 km awarded while Gujarat has completed 605 km of 764 km awarded. The ministry highlighted several states have substantial works under construction and some stretches remain to be started.
Punjab has 774 km under construction of 923 km awarded, Bihar has 589 km under construction of 589 km awarded and Andhra Pradesh has 585 km under construction of 893 km awarded, and work has yet to start on 1,022 km of approved corridors. To expedite execution the ministry described measures including a GIS-based land acquisition plan, a revamped environmental clearance portal and online approvals for general arrangement drawings from the railways. The ministry said the government sanctioned a 32 km four-lane access-controlled highway to connect Vadhavan port with the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway and NH-48, and the project was sanctioned at Rs 43,623.9 million (Rs 43,623.9 mn; Rs 43.62 bn) under EPC mode and has been awarded.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.