Construction of Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway to start from April

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 1

Construction of the strategically important Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway will commence in the financial year starting from April (2021-22).

This was stated by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on Monday.

The 1,316 kilometre road between two major urban centres of the north and the west will connect three big refineries of Bathinda, Barmer (Pachpadra) and Jamnagar. It will also connect Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (Bathinda) and Suratgarh Super Thermal Power Plant.

Sitharaman also announced plans for augmenting road infrastructure in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam. Interestingly, assembly elections are also slated to take place in these states during 2021.

In Tamil Nadu, 3,500 km of National Highway works at an investment of Rs 1.03 lakh crores has been proposed. Similarly, 1,100 km of National Highway works at an investment of Rs 65,000 crores, including 600 km section of Mumbai-Kanyakumari corridor, has been proposed for Kerala and 675 km of highway works for West Bengal at a cost of Rs 25,000 crores, including upgradation of the existing Kolkata –Siliguri road.

National Highway works of around Rs 19,000 crores are already in progress in Assam. Further works of more than Rs 34,000 crores covering more than 1300 km of National Highways will be undertaken in the state, Sitharaman announced.