Nitin Gadkari reviews progress of greenfield expressways, access controlled highways

The road transport and highways minister also stressed the timely monetisation of projects after completion.

According to an official statement, Gadkari directed that stringent monitoring of the target dates of award of projects and scheduled dates of completion be done without any compromise with the quality of work to develop world-class highway infrastructure.

The statement said these 22 greenfield projects of 8,000 km length being executed under the government’s flagship Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase – I are expected to cost Rs 3.26 lakh crore.

These are envisaged as the key to improving logistics efficiency by providing seamless connectivity between the centres of production and consumption of industrial and MSME products in the country, the statement said.

Additionally, it said they will help in the faster movement of passenger and freight traffic in the country.

According to the statement, a detailed presentation on the present status of award, bidding, and hindrances related to pre-construction activities especially land acquisition, environmental clearance, forest clearance was made by NHAI before the minister who emphasized that issues related to various state governments may be sorted out quickly and wherever required the state-specific matter may be taken up at his level.