Gadkari kicks off work on Rs 35.8 billion road projects in Madhya Pradesh

Union roads minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday laid the foundation stones for over Rs 35.8 billion of roads projetcs in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

The minister said work on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway passing through Jaipur and the Bhopal-Indore Expressway and the Chambal Expressway will start soon.

"More than 13,000 km roads worth Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) have been built in the state by my ministry and the state. During the Congress rule, contractors used to cut a sorry figure in building roads," Gadkar said inaugurating the upgraded Shivpuri-Guna, Guna-Biora, Lakhanadoan-Chhapara roads running into 188 km built at an investment of Rs 1,902-crore (Rs 19.02 billion).

The minister also laid the foundation stones of five national highway projects stretching 226 km at an investment of Rs 35.83 billion.

"The work on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which will pass through Jaipur, and Bhopal-Indore and Chambal expressways will start soon," he said, adding land acquistion for these projects is being done by the state.

He said Rs 1 trillion worth of road projects have been completed so far while Rs 1.5 trillion are underway.