25,000 km of highway to be widened to 4 lanes for Rs 10 lakh crore: Gadkari

A total of 25,000 km of two-lane highways in the country will be converted into four lanes for Rs 10 lakh crore, and it will help reduce accidents on the roads significantly, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in Lok Sabha on Thursday. Gadkari also said that 16,000 km of national highways will also be converted into six lanes for Rs 6 lakh crore.

"We are planning to convert 25,000 km of two-lane highways into four-lane highways at a cost of Rs 10 lakh crore. The DPRs (detailed project reports) of the projects are getting ready and we are hopeful to complete the work in two years," he said during Question Hour.

The minister said the government is prioritising these projects, and once they are completed, the number of road accidents is expected to be reduced significantly.

Gadkari, a few weeks ago, had said that every year, India sees 4,80,000 accidents, which lead to 1,88,000 deaths of people aged between 18 and 45 years. He also noted that the country is losing 3% of its GDP due to road accidents annually and emphasised that by 2030, the government wants to reduce mishaps on the road by 50 per cent.

In the Lower House, Gadkari also said that the Modi government has given the highest priority to the development of highways in Jammu and Kashmir, northeastern states and hilly states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

He said road construction works worth Rs 2 lakh crore are underway in J&K, where 105 tunnels are being constructed for ease of travel.

The minister said that the government is also constructing a tunnel at Zojila, which would be the longest in Asia and to be located in a sub-zero temperature zone.

He said that initially, the tunnel was estimated to be constructed for over Rs 12,000 crore, but it will be completed at just around Rs 5,500 crore.

Gadkari also invited Speaker Om Birla and other MPs to visit the site to see the engineering marvel of the Zojila tunnel.

He said the work on the Jammu-Srinagar highway is also under progress, where 36 tunnels will be constructed, of which works in 22 tunnels have been completed.

He said once the work is completed, the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar will be reduced to three to three and half hours instead of the current seven hours.

The minister said work on the expressway between Delhi-Katra is also in progress, and upon completion, the travel time between the two places will be reduced to half from the present 12 hours.