Focus on critical infrastructure building through an integrated approach, right from a number of strategic tunnels and bridges to 22 green expressways, is bound to place India in the league of advanced nations like the US, UK and Australia in the coming two years, union minister Nitin Gadkari has said.
Apart from a number of strategic tunnels and bridges being built across the length and breadth of the country, 22 green expressways at an estimated cost of Rs 3.10 lakh crore comprising 7,500 km are planned to be executed in the next couple of years, the road transport minister said.
He further said that talks are in advanced stage for building Rs 8,250 crore Chambal Expressway in Madhya Pradesh, a first of its kind in collaboration of the state government.
“To take India’s infrastructure to the next level it has been decided to work on it in an integrated manner as per Prime Minister Narendera Modi’s vision. Plans are afoot to tap full potential while building newer highways by laying optic fibre, transmission line and gas pipe lines,” Gadkari told PTI in an interview.
The power ministry will come up with plans for transmission line while the IT ministry will give nod for optical fibre cable network, the minister said adding that similarly gas pipeline can be laid along the big roads that are being built.
These are planned along the proposed 22 green expressways, of which the work on seven including Rs 1 lakh crore Delhi-Mumbai Expressway has started.
“Given the pace of work on critical infrastructure including strategic tunnels, bridges and highways, I am confident that whatever work we are doing… (in) coming next two years you will see a changed India. Roads, tunnel and bridges which we see in in the US, UK, Germany and Australia, the same kind of work will be seen in our country,” the senior minister said.
Gadkari, who also holds the MSME portfolio, said the strategic Rs 2,379 crore Z-Morh Tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir, that stuck for long after it was abandoned, was cleared and is expected to be built soon.
The Z-Morh Tunnel along with the Zojila tunnel are designed to provide all-weather road connectivity to Jammu and Kashmir parts which remain closed during the winters due to heavy snowfall.
“Z-Morh tunnel work was stuck. I have cleared it. …Work on Zojila tunnel will start in two months,” Gadkari said.
Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) has emerged as the lowest bidder for the prestigious Zojila Pass tunnel to provide all-year connectivity between Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh union territories.
Among the three bidders in the race including Larsen & Toubro and Ircon International JV, the Hyderabad-headquartered company had quoted the lowest Rs 4,509.5 crore for the tunnel project, stuck for over six years now.
The project holds strategic significance as Zojila Pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway and remains closed during winters due to heavy snowfall.
Besides, the minister said work was in full swing for Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, India’s longest expressway at 1,320 km which is slated to reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai from 24 hours to 13 hours.
Apart from optic fibre, transmission and gas pipelines, a large number of industrial clusters are planned on its side, he said.
Stating that there have been some obstructions in execution of highway projects due to the coronavirus outbreak, Gadkari said nevertheless his ministry believed in converting this crisis into an opportunity and overcoming it. The pace of execution of projects has been expedited, he said. (PTI)

Daily Excelsior:  24nd August, 2020