5 upcoming world-class multicrore highway projects you should know about

New Delhi: In the last couple of years, India has witnessed a transformation when it comes to road network and highways. From Bandra-Worli Sea link to Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressway, several highway projects have been added to the country's growing list of infrastructural developments. In fact, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said during his previous tenure, his ministry -- Road Transport -- spent Rs 11 lakh crore was spent on highways sector alone.

After taking charge again as Union Minister in the Modi 2.0 government, he said that the government has lined up big plans which include infusing Rs 15 lakh crore in highways. After taking charge of Road Transport and Highways and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) ministry, Gadkari said that the mission ahead was to further propel country's economic growth through concerted efforts be it in highways or MSME.

It may be noted that several state-level projects are being planned to provide smooth road access between various cities. Aside from that, several national highways and major multi-crore expressway projects are also under progress. 

Take a look at the top 5 upcoming world-class multicrore Expressway projects:

1. Purvanchal Expressway: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the eight-lane, 354-km long Purvanchal Expressway in Amazgarh last year. Once completed, the expressway will link Lucknow to Ghazipur. The expressway will also connect several important towns such as Amethi, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, and Mau. The expressway project is being carried out at a cost of over Rs 23,000 crore.

The Expressway is expected to be completed by 2021 and it will connect the Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow to the Ghazipur city in the eastern part of the state. It will further reduce the travel time between the two cities to 4 and a half to five hours.cIt will also be linked to the Varanasi via a separate link road. Also, it will connect them to Delhi via Agra-Greater Noida Yamuna Expressway and Agra-Lucknow Expressway.

2. Ganga Expressway: Touted to be the longest expressway in the country once completed, The 1,020 Km-long Ganga Expressway project with an estimated cost of Rs 36,000 crore was approved by the cabinet earlier this year in January. UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath said then that this will be India's longest expressway spanning across 6,556 hectares of land. 

The highway project, which will be developed in two phases. Phase I of the Ganga Expressway will be 596 Km and it will cover Meerut, Jyotibha Phule Nagar, Hapur, Sambhal, Budaun, Shahjahanpur, Furrukhabad, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj districts. There will be five major bridges, eight road-overbridges and 18 flyovers. The expressway will have 4 lane access controlled (expandable to 6-lane) configuration.

The total cost of construction for the first phase of the project is pegged at Rs 35,952 crore. The funding for this project will be done by 70% debt and 30% equity combination. Under phase two of the expressway, 110 km long road stretch will be developed from Tigri to Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border and another road stretch of 314 km will be developed from Prayag Raj to Ballia. 

3. Delhi-Mumbai Expressway: With an aim to reduce the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai to 12 hours, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is developing the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project. The Delhi-Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway is conceived as a 1,320 Km greenfield project with an estimated cost of Rs 90,000 crore. Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stones for the development of 8-lane expressway project earlier this year.

At present it takes 24 hours to travel from Mumbai to Delhi via the National Highway 8 but after the new expressway is expected to cut short the entire travel time to 12 hours or 50 per cent lesser. The expressway will pass through a slew of underdeveloped regions such as Mewat, Ratlam and Dahod. It will also pass through multiple states such as Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.  

This highway will be access-controlled and will provide good riding quality, reliable infrastructure and better safety. The project will also include four multilevel interchanges along with elevated ramps or service roads. The highway will also provide direct connectivity to Delhi IGI Airport’s T3 terminal via a 5 km-long shallow tunnel. The Expressway will boast crossroad underpasses at crucial junctions as well as intelligent transportation system (ITS).

4. Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway: With the aim to provide last-mile with best public transport facilities for quick and easy movement of people and goods, the Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg project, called Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway project is being carried out. The expressway will be around 700 km-long. With a speed limit of 150 km, the travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur is likely to be reduced to 8 hours. 

The expressway will pass through ten districts, namely Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Jalna, Ahmednagar, Nashik and Thane. It will connect Nagpur to Mumbai and have direct connectivity with the country’s largest container port - JNPT. Inter-connecting highways and feeder roads would be constructed to connect all important cities and tourist places along this route. This will connect another fourteen districts, namely Chandrapur, Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Yavatmal, Akola, Hingoli, Parbhani, Nanded, Beed, Dhule, Jalgaon, Palghar and Raigad. In this manner, a total of twenty-four districts in Maharashtra will be connected via this expressway. Major tourist destinations in the state will also be connected to the expressway.

The project will also connect multiple industrial areas including Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Mahamarg, Western Dedicated Freight Mahamarg and it will have 8 lanes, 4 lanes on each side. Also, there will be service roads on both sides. The project also includes 50+ flyovers, 24+ interchanges, 400+ vehicular underpasses, 300+ pedestrian underpasses and more than 5 tunnels.

5. Brahmaputra Express Highway: The 890 km-long expressway will be constructed along the river Brahmaputra at a projected cost of Rs 40,000 crores. The proposed expressway, a greenfield corridor, will connect Sadiya with Dhubri touching all the major towns/ cities on the south bank of Brahmaputra, significantly reducing the travel time.

The expressway will be developed under PPP mode. The 6-lane expressway with controlled access will be one of the most challenging infrastructure projects in the world, according to a recent concept note prepared by the state government. The express highway will be access-controlled and vehicles will be able to ply at very high speed.