Centre working on projects worth Rs 50,000 crore to decongest Delhi roads

The Centre is working on road projects worth Rs 50,000 crore to decongest the national capital and this will help reduce pollution in the city, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

"We are working on road projects worth Rs 50,000 crore for Delhi," he said.

The Centre is developing Dwarka Expressway with a cost of Rs 10,000 crore and also a dedicated road to connect Delhi airport from Dhaula Kuan, he said, adding that more spots been identified for decongestion.

"Pollution will be less in Delhi in the coming years," the road, transport and highways minister said.

Replying to a query on delay and cost overrun on highway projects, Gadkari said the government has found a solution for projects which were delayed because of land acquisition, clearances and other issues.

"Now, the speed has increased. Once upon a time it was Rs 2 km per day and now it is Rs 30 km per day... We do not have any financial problem," he said.

In a written reply, he informed the House that 5,126 km highway has been constructed till October in 2019-20. In 2018-19, 10,855 km highways were constructed.

"The revised normative costs for different categories of national highways were issued by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in 2018-19 according to which the cost of construction of 2-lane highways is Rs 3.71 crore/km for plain terrain and Rs 10.11crore/km for hilly terrain.

"However, the actual cost would depend on site-specific requirements, number of bridges/culverts, soil conditions, etc," he added.