While the central government has been planning the ambitious Mumbai-Delhi high-speed road corridor for a few months now, we’re coming across more clarification on this project courtesy of Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari.
He mentioned that this project will be an 8-lane green highway passing through states like Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra which is also expected to make land acquisition more economical. Keeping the future in mind, provisions have been reportedly made to turn it into a 12-lane highway. In the meanwhile, the authorities are said to have conducted a trial run with overhead cables and substations.
Gadkari said that the government plans to implement electric vehicle charging hubs near petrol/diesel stations to encourage more users to go electric. He gave out this information while speaking at the release of TVS iQube, a new electric scooter selling at a price of Rs 1.15 lakh (base price Bengaluru).
While the initial deadline mentioned 2024, Gadkari mentioned today that the target was to finish this project by January 26, 2023. If completed, this new road will allow commuters to drive between Delhi and Mumbai within just 12 hours, a feat that currently takes nearly 24 hours.
It is said that Gadkari has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take this up on priority given the impact it can have on the region’s trade as well as the economy. “For me, it’s as prestigious project (sic) as the Mumbai-Pune expressway was,” Gadkari said.
NHAI is said to have begun works on some parts of the land with around 85-90% of the land acquisition reportedly said to be finalized. An NHAI official added that they’re determined to finish this work within the deadline in order to set an example.
The proposed expressway will also include a 3.75 km tunnel at Mukundra Hills in order to keep the surrounding wildlife unharmed by the infrastructure. “The project will also be a huge employment generator. We have estimated generation of 50 lakh man-days work during construction,” the NHAI official added.
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