NEW DELHI: Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Government of India, laid the foundation stone and inaugurated almost Rs 15,592 crores worth of projects in Andhra Pradesh. These include 16 highway projects stretching for almost 1,411 kilometres (km), the ministry said.
Gadkari addressed the event through video conferencing and said that the length of national highways in Andhra Pradesh, which was 4,193 km, has increased to 6860 km. He added that works worth Rs 34,100 crore are under consideration and may be completed by 2024. Works costing Rs 25,440 crore are already under implementation.
Gadkari said that around 5000 km of National Highways are being developed as part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana in the state. In addition to this, around 400 km of port connectivity roads are also being developed under the project. He said that many flagship projects are being developed under Bharatmala Pariyojana including the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway and Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway. Anantpur- Amaravati Expressway will improve the connectivity of the capital region, coastal and northern region of Andhra Pradesh.
Anantpur-Amaravati Highway has 16 packages with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore. It connects the capital city of Amaravati with Anantpuramu of Rayalaseema Region. The expressway will improve the connectivity between Bengaluru and Chennai and will enable the economic prosperity of the region, Gadkari added.
The event was presided over by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister, Government of Andhra Pradesh, and attended by Gen (Retd) V K Singh, Minister of State, MoRTH, and others.