NEW DELHI: Three Union ministers on Friday laid the foundation stones for the Dwarka and the Delhi-Mumbai expressways.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari also inaugurated the Jaipur Ring Road via video conferencing.
“The projects are a gift to Delhi and Haryana. The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will change the future of the Mewat region and will bring it on the industrial map of the country. I am happy that 20 lakh trees will be planted along the roads,” Swaraj said.
Her Cabinet colleague Jaitley said the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway would link the two most important freight corridors of the country.
The 1,320-km long Delhi-Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway is a greenfield project with at an estimated cost of Rs 90,000 crore.
With an average traffic of more than 80,000 passenger car unit per day, the existing Delhi-Mumbai National Corridor (NH-8 section of the Golden Quadrilateral) is one the busiest and most critical routes of the national highway network.
The Delhi-Vadodara-Mumbai road will result in overall reduction of about 150 km in the present distance between Delhi and Mumbai. In addition, the Delhi-Vadodara expressway will also act as an expressway to Jaipur.
Gadkari said full attention was being given to minimising pollution levels while developing expressways and highways.
“The Delhi-Meerut Expressway and the Dhaula Kuan flyover will definitely reduce traffic congestion, improving the air quality in the city. The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will also speed up development and smart cities will develop along them, generating vast employment opportunities for the local people,” he said.
The 29-km Dwarka Expressway, being built at a cost of Rs 9,000 crore, will start from Shiv Murti and terminate near Kherki Daula on NH-8.