PANAJI, Sept. 9 -- At a function to open a 5.15km long elevated road that would bypass a congested stretch north of Panaji, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said he was "ashamed" of the delays around the expansion of the Mumbai-Goa Highway and had declared that he did not want to attend its inauguration when the project is finally completed.

"The Mumbai-Goa Highway has been hopelessly delayed, and the contractors have failed. From my point of view, what has happened is very unfortunate. My department has as many as seven world records, but now I wish my department will have the record for blacklisting and debarring the single largest number of contractors and suspension of officials in a single year," Gadkari said...