The Road Transport and Highways Minister, Nitin Gadkari on Friday said that a slew of steps are being taken to overhaul the highways sector, including a Rs3,500 crore 'Metro Mail Project' to decongest Delhi.According to Nitin Gadkari this pilot project would link directly Manesar to Dhaula Kuan a 'Metro Mail Project' is going to get the Government's approval soon, measuring a length of 70-km with a total estimated cost of Rs3,500 crore.
Inaugurating a Smart Transportation Infra Summit & Expo 2015 under aegis of Delhi & NCR Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi on Friday, the Minister also disclosed that the NDA Government was also exploring possibilities to introduce Electric Buses and Car services in the hilly states of the country, replacing their existing transportation system to make India free from diesel and petrol pollution. The Summit was conceptualized by the Chairman Delhi & NCR Committee, PHD Chamber Rajnish Goenka and supported by Trident Biz Connect.
Elaborating on the Metro Mail Project between Dhaula Kuan in New Delhi and Manesar in Haryana, Mr Gadkari said, “the detailed project reports and other preliminary ground and paper works are almost completed and approved of. The Metro Mail Project would cost Rs50 crore a kilometre against Rs250 crore per km project cost of metro rail. The nitty-gritty involving the investments would be sorted out after the Government of the Centre approves it in next few days.”
Without disclosing the time frame for the launch of this project, Gadkari said, “it would be one of the pilot projects of the Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways and following its successful completion, other such projects would also be implemented in various parts of the country to connect and integrate their townships with bigger metropolis.”
The electric busses and cars transportation services were being considered actively by the Government of the day, especially for India's hilly landscapes so that their environment and ecology are protected, replacing the existing transportation system since electric transportation system is pollution free and its cost falls much cheaper than the transportation system fed with petrol and diesel.
The Government on Friday has also decided to broad base and widen the existing NH 24 national highways between Delhi and Dasna in Ghaziabad and subsequently extending it to Meerut making it 16 lane instead of 8 lane as was being visualized earlier, said the Minister adding that 10,000 km of broad road ways linkage would also be built connecting the Char Dham such as Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Jamnotri.