Currently, the travel time between the two cities is five to six hours

Addressing a media event, Gadkari further said that construction of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is expected to be completed within two months.

With the completion of the motorway, the current 24-hour travel time between the two major cities is expected to be reduced to 12 hours.

There are two packages for the Delhi-Dehradun highway project, according to the minister of road transport and highways.

“A ₹10,000 crore project has been approved for Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj, extending to Faridabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the project within the next 15-20 days,” Gadkari said at the event by Times Network.

Gadkari said that the Modi administration is trying to improve agricultural income, cut back on fossil fuel imports, and lessen air pollution.

“The transport ministry is responsible for 40 per cent of the air pollution… While a huge part of pollution is due to stubble burning in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, road construction and fossil fuels also add to the annual problem,” he said.

The minister added that the government is working on 400 projects that would turn 200 lakh tonnes of rice straw annually into alternative fuels, which will eliminate the stubble burning issue in two years.

According to Gadkari, his ministry is developing 36 green express lanes that would lower the nation’s logistical expenses.

“India’s logistics cost is 14-16 per cent compared to 8 per cent in China and 12 per cent in the US and European Union. We aim to bring this down to 9 per cent in two years,” news agency PTI quoted Gadkari as saying at the event.

The minister claims that this would increase India’s exports by 1.5 times and make us more competitive.

The motorway is expected to cost around 13,000 crore. It would include elements like a wildlife corridor to save regional wildlife as it passes through important cities like Baghpat, Shamli, and Saharanpur.

Regarding the growing number of road accidents in India, Gadkari stated that the country leads the globe in the number of fatalities from traffic accidents, with 1,78,000 fatalities from 5,00,000 incidents annually. He attributed this to bad road conditions, lax law enforcement, and a lack of awareness and education.

“Despite trying hard over the last 10 years we have not succeeded in reducing road accidents in the country,” Gadkari admitted.

The minister emphasised that his ministry’s recent initiatives on rectifying all black spots on national highways, tweaking the bidding norms for detailed project reports (DPRs) will help reduce the number of accidents in the country.

(With PTI inputs)