NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the development of eight National High-Speed Corridors worth ₹50,655 crores. The cumulative length of these highways has been pegged at 936 kilometres, and their construction would generate 4.42 crore man-days of direct and indirect employment.
The 88-kilometre-long, 6-lane Agra-Gwalior National High-Speed Corridor will be developed in a build-own-transfer model. The estimated cost of this project is ₹4613 crore, and it will double the capacity of the Agra-Gwalior section of the North-South Corridor connecting Srinagar and Kanyakumari. Similarly, the Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad corridor and Kanpur Ring Road will also have six lanes. The estimated cost of both of these corridors will be ₹10,534 crore and ₹3,298 crore, respectively.
The Kharagpur-Moregram high-speed corridor will be 231 km long, and it will replace the existing two-lane highway, increasing its capacity by five times. This four-lane high-speed corridor will be built in hybrid annuity mode, costing ₹10.247 crore to the government.
Similarly, the 68-km-long Ayodhya Ring Road, the 137-km-long section between Pathalgaon and Gumla of Raipur-Ranchi, and the 121-km-long Northern Guwahati Bypass and widening/improvement of the existing Guwahati Bypass will be four-lane highways. They will cost ₹3,935 crore, ₹4,473 crore, and ₹5,729 crore, respectively.
The list of eight National High-Speed Corridors also includes an eight-lane elevated Nashik Phata-Khed Corridor. The elevated highway will be built at a cost of ₹7,827 crore. This high-speed corridor will be 30 kilometres long.