He laid the foundation stone for 15 national highway projects totalling 498 kilometres costing Rs 8,038 crore, at a function held in Bhopal.
He said the Road Transport and Highways Ministry will either start or complete the work of national highways of Rs 3 lakh crore in Madhya Pradesh by this year-end.
“By the end of 2024, the network of national highways in Madhya Pradesh will be equal to that of America (network)”, Gadkari said.
He also said a tender for a 2-km long ropeway connecting Ujjain railway station with Mahakaleshwar temple will be issued in February. The project will cost Rs 171 crore, he added.
“We are working in the field of ropeways and cable cars. We have decided to develop 27 ropeways costing Rs 7,234 crore in MP,” the Union minister said, adding that study is being conducted for a long ropeway in Omkareshwar. Gadkari recalled when he was Shipping minister, he had prepared a water taxi scheme in Mumbai to ease traffic. “A ropeway, a cable car, or a sky bus can be run on the lake (Bhopal’s Upper Lake). We will surely help if you (Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav) send a proposal,” he said and added that the tenders for all 27 rope-way works will be issued soon.
He also said good roads will attract industries and capital investment, which will give a boost to employment in MP and also eradicate poverty.
Gadkari appealed to CM Yadav to provide government land along the ring road so that logistics parks, cold storage and industrial clusters could be developed with the Central fund.
He also said a multi-modal logistics park, costing Rs 1,111 crore, is proposed on a 255-acre land.
Gadkari said the 245-km stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, costing Rs 20,000 crore, is passing from Madhya Pradesh and the distance between both cities will be covered in 12 hours.
“The express highway will be completed by December this year. Once completed, one can travel to Mumbai in around 5-6 hours from Madhya Pradesh, which will help in business development,” he added.
The construction of a 687-km highway between Indore and Hyderabad costing around Rs 18,000 crore will be completed by 2025, the Union minister said and shared details of other projects in MP.
After constructing a greenfield highway for Rs 5,000 crore between Agra and Gwalior, the distance from Gwalior to Delhi will be covered in four hours, Gadkari added.
He appealed to the chief minister to sort out the environmental and land issues that cropped up regarding the alignment of the Chambal expressway.
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