India, April 11 -- Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday opined that no new national highway project should be approved without 100 per cent land acquisition, as it is a major hurdle in road construction.Addressing the 17th CIDC Vishwakarma Awards & Exhibitions on Viksit Bharat 2047, Gadkari further said the Highways ministry has highway assets worth INR 15 lakh crore that can be monetised.

"Land acquisition, forest and environment clearance are major problems in highways projects. "We had made it mandatory that without acquiring 90 per cent of the land no new national highway projects will be started. Now I think that without acquiring 100 per cent of the land, we should not give an appointed date for the ne...