Centre to allocate Rs 12,600 crore to Gujarat for construction of roads, bridges and logistic parks: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday announced that the central government will allocate an additional fund of Rs 12,600 crore to Gujarat for construction of roads, bridges and logistic parks in the state.

This fund will include Rs 6,000 crore for development of multi-modal logistic parks in the state and Rs 1,000 crore to construction of Road Over Bridges (ROBs) or Road Under Bridges (RUBs) on roads other than national highways in the state, he said.

The Minister for Road Transport and Highways was talking to reporters at Kavitha village near Ahmedabad after inspecting the ongoing works for the upcoming Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway. He was in Gujarat to review the progress of various highway projects being implemented by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in the state.

On Wednesday, Gadkari had held a high-level meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar about the ongoing highway projects in the state.

“Under the annual plan, we will give an additional fund of Rs 2,600 crore to Gujarat. Another Rs 3,000 crore will be allotted for constructing state highways, district roads and roads inside municipal areas. Under the Setu Bandhan scheme, we will provide Rs 1,000 crore to build ROBs and RUBs on state roads,” the minister said.

“For multi-modal logistic parks, we will allocate Rs 6,000 crore. In all, we will give Rs 12,600 crore to Gujarat. I have told this to Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel during a review meeting on Wednesday in Gandhinagar,” Gadkari said.

He said efforts were being made to finish the 109-km long Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway, which will connect Ahmedabad with the upcoming Special Investment Region and Dholera Smart City, by January 2024.

An official release said the highway project commenced in 2021 and so far nearly 21 per cent work has been completed.

Gadkari told reporters that nearly 20 lakh metric tonnes of solid waste generated in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation limits and 25 lakh metric tonnes of ash produced by thermal power plants are being used for preparing the base of the highway.

“Since we need a huge amount of clay to construct highways, I have given a proposal to the Gujarat CM that we will dig the canals, lakes and ponds in the state for free and use that clay for our highways,” he added.

Before undertaking the highway inspection work, Gadkari visited “Sparsh Mahotsav”, an event organised by the Jain Community at GMDC ground in Ahmedabad.