KOCHI: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday announced 31 upcoming road projects with a total length of 896 kilometres, costing Rs 50,000 crore.
The Union Minister was addressing the inaugural event of the Invest Kerala Global Summit 2025 at the Lulu International Convention Centre virtually on Friday.
Expressing the Union government's complete support to the state in garnering investments, Gadkari said, "The one major factor that plays a very vital role in attracting investments is good road infrastructure. In Kerala, we have completed projects costing more than Rs 20,000 crore, and at the same time, there are ongoing projects worth Rs 60,000 crore."
He added that five packages have been mooted for the Palakkad-Kasaragod stretch. "Four-laning of the Palakkad-Malappuram-Kozhikode NH 996, with a length of 120 kilometres, at a cost of Rs 10,840 crore," he added.
"All five packages are in the bidding stage. Within three months, we will start work on this project. This is one of the important routes, costing Rs 10,800 crore. The seamless connectivity between Palakkad and Kozhikode in Kerala and the connectivity between northern Kerala and the industrial town of Salem is very important," said Gadkari.
Another important project is the six-laning of the Ernakulam bypass from Angamaly to Kundanoor in the NH section 554, with a length of 45 kilometres, costing Rs 6,500 crore, he added.
"Within six months, we will start this project. The stretch bypasses the entire Kochi city and ensures seamless connectivity to NH 544 from Thrissur, passing on to NH 66. This decreases the travel time from the existing 1.5 hours to 20 minutes. The work will begin in six months. Another project is the Rs 5,000 crore Thiruvananthapuram outer ring road project, with a length of 68.7 kilometres. We are going to start the land acquisition process, and once 90 per cent of the land is acquired, we will start the project. The DPR is all ready. The outer ring road will ensure seamless connectivity to Vizhinjam port," said Gadkari.
The other project announced by the Union Minister was the Rs 3,000 crore four-laning of the Edamon-Kollam NH. The work will begin in four to five months. The DPR is in progress. The road will ensure seamless connectivity between Kollam in Kerala and Madurai in Tamil Nadu. It will decrease the travel time from six hours to two hours.