Projects spanning a total length of 936 km at and incurring a total capital cost of Rs. 50,655 were approved (refer the table).
- These projects will be implemented using various PPP (Public Private Partnership) modes, including BOT, HAM and EPC.
Highways Development in India
- Corridor-Based Approach: It has led to the identification of 50,000 km of High-Speed Highway Corridors based on GSTN and toll data.
- Trends (2014-2024): Length of National Highways (NH) has increased 1.6 times from 0.91 lakh km to 1.46 lakh km.
- Total capital investment in NH has risen from Rs. 50,000 crores to Rs. 3.1 lakh crore.
Benefits of Corridor-Based Highways
- Logistics Efficiency: For instance, the Agra-Gwalior corridor will reduce the distance between Agra and Gwalior by 7% and cut travel time by 50%.
- This will boost freight movement and ease of doing business in India.
- Boost to Tourism: For example, the Tharad-Ahmedabad corridor will provide connectivity to key tourist destinations in Rajasthan (e.g., Mehrangarh Fort, Dilwara Temple) and Gujarat (Rani ka Vav, Ambaji Temple).
- Other Economic Benefits: Each rupee spent on infrastructure boosts GDP by 2.5-3 times. The 8 projects will create around 4.42 crore mandays of direct and indirect.
