Survey of 575-km-long Katra-Delhi express road corridor completed: Jitendra Singh

The survey for the construction of 575-km-long express road corridor connecting the holy town of Katra with the national capital via Amritsar has been completed and the project is expected to cost Rs 35,000 crore, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.

Singh said this after receiving an update from Chairman of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. The proposal was initially placed before Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari about two years ago.

The survey for the construction of the ambitious Katra-Delhi express road corridor has been completed and after the initial exercise conducted by a private consultancy firm, decks have been cleared for the next stage of the project, he said.

According to a press release, the 575-km-long express road corridor will cost over Rs 35,000 crore.

According to the project plans, the Pathankot-Jammu national highway will be widened from the existing four lane to six lane and connect Katra to Delhi via Amritsar.

Singh said the unique characteristic of this express road corridor would be to connect the two holy cities of Katra and Amritsar directly with Delhi and pilgrims will also have the option of planning an itinerary incorporating Golden temple as well as Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.

The new express road corridor may take some time to complete because of certain formalities, including forest clearance, but when completed, it will reduce the travel time from Katra to Delhi to seven hours and from Jammu to Delhi to just about six hours.