2,474 km length National HSCs / Expressways have been operationalised under PM – Gati Shakti National Master Plan

NEW DELHI : The Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs), including National Expressways. All the NHs development projects, including development of access-controlled High-Speed Corridors (HSC) / Expressways are planned in line with PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) Principles.

National HSCs / Expressways in about 2,474 km length have been operationalized, State / Union Territory (UT) – wise details of which are as under:

Five National HSCs / Expressways (Bengaluru – Chennai Expressway, Bengaluru – Kadappa – Vijayawada, Chittoor – Thatchur, Hyderabad – Vishakhapatnam and Raipur – Vishakhapatnam Corridor) in about 662 km length in the State of Andhra Pradesh are under development, out of which 287 km length has been constructed.

The Government has taken number of steps to expedite the completion of projects in the country, including for the State of Andhra Pradesh. These include:

a. Project planning including preparation of DPR mandated on PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) Portal

b. Awarding projects after adequate preparation in terms of land acquisition (LA) and preconstruction activities

c. Streamlining LA process & environment clearances

d. Simplified procedure for approval of GAD (General Arrangement Drawing) by Railways

e. Promoting Contractor’s Ecosystem by rationalising the projects and contract documents

f. Revamping dispute resolution mechanism

g. Relaxations in contract provisions under “Atmanirbhar Bharat” to improve liquidity of funds

h. Periodic reviews of projects at various levels

This information was given by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.