Delhi-Dehradun expressway to be completed within three months: Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said that the Delhi-Dehradun expressway, which is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities to two hours, will be completed within the next three months.

Currently, the travel time between the two cities is five to six hours.

Addressing 'Times Network India Economic Conclave 2024', Gadkari further said that construction of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is expected to be completed within two months.

The travel time between the two metropolitan cities is expected to reduce to 12 hours with the completion of the expressway from the present 24 hours.

The road transport and highways minister said Delhi-Dehradun highway project has two packages.

"A Rs 10,000 crore project has been approved for Delhi's Kalindi Kunj, extending to Faridabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the project within the next 15-20 days," Gadkari said.

Gadkari also said that the Modi government is working to reduce air pollution, lower the import of fossil fuel and enhance farm income.

"The transport ministry is responsible for 40 per cent of the air pollution... While a huge part of pollution is due to stubble burning in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, road construction and fossil fuels also add to the annual problem," he said.

The minister also pointed out that the problem of stubble burning will be solved in two years as the government is working on 400 projects that will convert 200 lakh tonnes of rice straw every year to alternate fuels.

Gadkari said that his ministry is working on 36 green express highways, which will help reduce the logistics costs in the country.

"India's logistics cost is 14-16 per cent compared to 8 per cent in China and 12 per cent in the US and European Union. We aim to bring this down to 9 per cent in two years," he said.

According to the minister, this will push India's exports by 1.5 times and help us become more competitive.

About the increasing number of road accidents in India, Gadkari said India is the Number 1 in the world in terms of deaths due to road accidents with 1,78,000 deaths from 5,00,000 accidents a year due to faulty road, poor enforcement of law and lack of education and awareness.

"Despite trying hard over the last 10 years we have not succeeded in reducing road accidents in the country," Gadkari admitted.

The minister emphasised that his ministry's recent initiatives on rectifying all black spots on national highways, tweaking the bidding norms for detailed project reports (DPRs) will help reduce the number of accidents in the country.