No new roads until clearance secured for all due projects: Nitin Gadkari

Extensive work carried out to expand national highway network in Rajasthan

New road projects will be launched only after securing all due clearances so that they are not held up, Union Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said here on Tuesday.

"Infrastructure projects will not get stuck now as all future road projects will be inaugurated only after getting all due clearances first such as land acquisition, environment clearances and utility shifting," Gadkari said.

He said that after the Narendra Modi-led central government came to power in 2014, extensive work has been conducted to increase the number and extent of national highways (NH) in Rajasthan, where the NH network has doubled.

"When Rajasthan became a state, it had only 7,498 km of National Highways. In the last three years, the length has been doubled to 14,465 km," he said.

"What could not be done in the last 50-60 years, has been accomplished in three years of Modi government. Projects getting delayed or getting stuck is a thing of the past now," Gadkari said.

He said the number of National Highways has been increased from 35 to 85 and 44 big projects, costing around Rs 10,430 crore, have been started in the state.