New Delhi: India National Highway Authority on Thursday said the Delhi-Mumbai toll road was run at a cost of Rs 95,000 Crore.
Expressway eight lanes can be expanded to 12 lanes, he said.
The Union Minister for Road and Road Transportation, Nitin Gadkari, reviewed the progress of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (DME) which included Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujesh.
In accordance with the official release by the Ministry, “it was developed at a cost of 98,000 crores, the 1,380-km delhi toll road would be the longest toll road in India.
This will increase connectivity between Delhi and Mumbai.
The toll road will connect the Delhi city centers through the Delhi section -Faridabad-sohna in the corridor along with serving the Jewaharlal Jewar Airport and Port of Jawaharlal Nehru to Mumbai through Mumbai.
“Talking about the toll road, Gadkari said it would have a heliport for emergency trauma care and for drone services.
“We have provided a good price for land to farmers,” Gadkari said too.
“Arun Jaitley Ji and Sushma Ji will be missed when we inaugurated Delhi-Mumbai’s freeway.
When we put the foundation, I said the two leaders would be part of the inauguration.
But we lost them.” Minister said.
Gadkari also talked about the murder case of NHAI consultant and called the “very unfortunate” incident.
“We must bear the safety of people like that,” he added.
Delhi Mumbai Expressway, imagined under the vision of ‘New India’ Prime Minister, began in 2018 with stone foundations placed on March 9, 2019.
Of the 1,380 km, the contract for more than 1,200 km has been given and ongoing.
The new freeway is expected to divide two travel time between Delhi and Mumbai from almost 24 hours to 12 hours and shorten the distance of 130 km.
This will result in annual fuel savings of more than 320 million liters and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 850 million kilograms equivalent to planting 40 million trees.
More than two million trees and bushes are planned to be planted along the highway as part of NHAI’s commitment to environmental conservation.
Minimizing the impact of environmental and wildlife has become the foundation for DME.
The highway is the first in Asia and only the second in the world that displays animal overpasses to facilitate unlimited wildlife movements.
Two parts of the toll road, Delhi-Dausa section – Lakson which is part of Delhi-Jaipur Expressway and the Vadodara-Ankleshwar section that connects Vadodara to the Bharuch Economic Center tends to be open to traffic on March 2022.
Complete toll road is planned to be completed in March 2023.
(with input from Ani)