Medilytix Bureau : Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that 27 green express highways will be built by the end of December to reduce travel time. And by December, he said there will be new highways wherein travel time from Delhi to Chandigarh will be 2.5 hours, Delhi to Amritsar 4 hours, Delhi to Katra 6 hours, Delhi to Srinagar 8 hours, and Delhi to Mumbai 12 hours, Delhi to Jaipur 2 hours, and Chennai to Bangalore also 2 hours.
Addressing an event, Gadkari emphasised the reduction of logistics costs from 14-16 percent to 10 percent with cooperation, coordination, and communication among stakeholders. He added that by reducing logistics costs, there will be a great saving and a 50 per cent increase in exports can be achieved.
The minister also said that technology, innovation, and research are very important for achieving the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making India a 5 trillion-dollar economy.
Speaking about pollution, he said the government is importing 16 lakh crore of fossil fuel, which is creating a lot of pollution. “A decision has been made to build 27 green express highways to reduce travel time, and by the end of December, there will be new highways with travel times of 2 1/2 hours from Delhi to Chandigarh, 4 hours from Delhi to Amritsar, 6 hours from Delhi to Katra, 8 hours from Delhi to Srinagar, and 12 hours from Delhi to Mumbai,” he said.
Gadkari said public transport needs to be encouraged with the Centre and states working together as a team. He stressed the diversification of agriculture into the energy and power sectors and the use of alternative fuels like bioethanol, LNG, and bio-CNG.