Nitin Gadkari unveils ₹10 lakh cr highway project to reduce accidents

A total of 25,000 km of two-lane highways in the country will be converted into four lanes for ₹10 lakh crore, and it will help reduce accidents on the roads significantly, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in Lok Sabha on Thursday. (27 Mar ’25) Gadkari also said that 16,000 km of national highways will also be converted into six lanes for ₹6 lakh crore. “We are planning to convert 25,000 km of two-lane highways into four-lane highways at a cost of ₹10 lakh crore. The DPRs (detailed project reports) of the projects are getting ready and we are hopeful to complete the work in two years," he said during question hour.

The minister said that the government is prioritising these projects, and once they are completed, the number of road accidents is expected to be reduced significantly.

Gadkari also invited Speaker Om Birla and other MPs to visit the site to see the engineering marvel of the Zojila tunnel.He said the work on the Jammu-Srinagar highway is also under progress, where 36 tunnels will be constructed, of which work in 22 tunnels have been completed. He said once the work is completed, the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar will be reduced to three to three and a half hours instead of the current seven hours.

The minister said, work on the expressway between Delhi-Katra is also in progress, and upon completion, the travel time between the two places will be reduced to half from the present 12 hours.