Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that India will have US-like roads by 2024. Not only this, he also said that there will be only one toll plaza in 60 km in the country and if there is any in the middle, it will be closed within three months.
Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in Lok Sabha said, “We will provide passes to local people who have Aadhar cards and who live near toll plazas. Also, I ensure that there is only one pass within 60 kms.” There will be a toll plaza and if there is another toll plaza, it will be closed in the next 3 months.”
The Union Road and Transport Minister further said, “We have made it mandatory that every car carrying up to 8 passengers should have 6 airbags. The automobile industry has complained about cost overruns. But we are concerned about the lives of poor consumers. Will not give protection to the rich at the cost.”
Referring to America, Nitin Gadkari said that the country will have roads like America by December 2024. In fact, Gadkari was replying in the Lok Sabha on the Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, 2022-23. The minister further said that it is his endeavor to make the road infrastructure in India at par with the US by 2040.
In this context, he referred to a famous quote by former US President John F. Kennedy that “American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good.”
Highlighting the improvement in highway connectivity and road infrastructure, Gadkari said that now it takes only 40 minutes to travel from Delhi to Meerut as compared to four hours ago.
Reiterating the ministry’s commitment to the Modi government’s resolve to build a self-reliant, happy, prosperous and prosperous India, Union Minister for Roads, Highways and Transport Nitin Gadkari said that by 2024, India’s road infrastructure would be at par with that of the US, leading to development and economic growth. will increase and tourism will get a boost. Gadkari said that we are working on a project of 60 thousand crore rupees in Jammu and Kashmir and Zojila tunnel is expected to be completed by 2024 instead of the target of 2026.
He said that by the end of this year, we are trying to complete the project so that it can reach Mumbai in 20 hours from Srinagar. Referring to the road infrastructure development works, Gadkari said that the government is working on several other projects, which will reach Jaipur, Haridwar and Dehradun from Delhi in two hours.
Gadkari said that work is underway on a Rs 62,000 crore project to tackle the problem of pollution and build road infrastructure in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Responding to a discussion in the Lok Sabha on ‘Demands for Grants under the control of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for the year 2022-23’, Gadkari referred to the traffic jams in the national capital and explained how he and other people were forced to stay here earlier. There was a traffic jam in Dhaulakuan while going to and from the airport.
Nitin Gadkari said that due to rapid change in technology and green fuel, the cost of electric vehicles (EVs) will come down and in the next two years their price will be at par with petrol-diesel powered vehicles. Gadkari also said that there is a need to pay more attention to economical and indigenous fuel. He also expressed hope that such fuel would soon become a reality and pollution would be controlled. The Union Minister asked the MPs to take initiative for the production of Green Hydrogen by using sewage water in their Parliamentary Constituencies.