PM inaugurates first phase of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Rajasthan's Dausa on Sunday.
He also laid the foundation stone for 247 km of national highway projects to be developed at a cost of more than Rs 5,940 crore.
The inauguration of the highway section in Rajasthan holds a political significance as the state will go to the Assembly polls in December.
"The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is one of the most advanced expressways in the world which presents a grand picture of developing India," he said on the occasion.
"For the last nine years, the Central government is continuously making huge investments in infrastructure. This budget has allocated Rs 10 lakh crores for infrastructure which is five times more than the allocation in 2014," he said in the presence of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
He informed the gathering that in the "in past few years, Rajasthan has received Rs 50,000 crore for highways".
"Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor are going to become two strong pillars of progress for Rajasthan and the country," Prime Minister Modi added.
The 246 km Delhi - Dausa-Lalsot section of the Delhi Mumbai Expressway has been developed at a cost of more than Rs 12,150 crore.
The operationalisation of this section will reduce the travel time from Delhi to Jaipur from the existing five hours to around 3.5 hours and provide a major boost to the economic development of the entire region.
Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be India's longest expressway with a length of 1,386 km.
It will reduce the travel distance between Delhi and Mumbai by 12 per cent from 1,424 km to 1,242 km and travel time will be reduced by 50 per cent from 24 hours to 12 hours. It will pass through six states - Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and connect major cities like Kota, Indore, Jaipur, Bhopal, Vadodara and Surat.