Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSME   Shri Nitin J. Gadkari reviewed the status of award, bidding and pre-construction activities related to 5 Greenfield Expressways and 17 Access Controlled Greenfield National Highways being executed under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase – I, the flagship programme of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. These 22 Greenfield Projects of 8,000 km length are expected to cost Rs. 3.26 Lakh Crores. These are envisaged as the key to improving logistics efficiency by providing seamless connectivity between centers of production and consumption of industrial and MSME products in the country. Additionally, they will help in faster movement of passenger and freight traffic in the country.

A detailed presentation on present status of Award, Bidding, and hindrances related to pre-construction activities especially Land Acquisition, Environmental Clearance/Forest Clearance was made by NHAI before the Minister who emphasized that issues related to various State Governments may be sorted out quickly and wherever required the state specific matter may be taken up at his level. Shri Gadkari also laid stress on timely monetization of projects after completion as well as value capture by developing facilities for road users along the upcoming Highways. He directed that stringent monitoring of the target dates of award of projects and scheduled dates of completion be done without any compromise with the quality of work in order to develop world class Highway infrastructure. Gen. (Dr.) V. K. Singh (Retd.), Minister of State (RT&H), suggested that regular reviews of the progress must be done so as to achieve the ambitious targets set by the Hon’ble Minister (RT&H). Shri Giridhar Aramane, Secretary (RT&H), Dr. S. S. Sandhu, Chairman NHAI, Shri I. K. Pandey, DG (Roads) and other senior officials were present during the review.