: PM to lay foundation stone of Rs 39,500 cr Delhi-Katra Expressway tomorrow #IndiaNEWS #Todays story Project will connect key religious sites, economic centres Travel time to be halved, 4 States/UTs

PM to lay foundation stone of Rs 39,500 cr Delhi-Katra Expressway tomorrow #IndiaNEWS #Todays story
Project will connect key religious sites, economic centres
Travel time to be halved, 4 States/UTs to benefit
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay foundation stone of Rs 39,500 crore worth Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, which will connect five key religious sites, at Ferozepur in Punjab on January 5.
He will lay foundation stone of many other projects totalling Rs 42,750 crore, an official statement released today said.
The Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will have a total length of 669 kilometres and will be developed at a total cost of about Rs 39,500 crore.
“The Expressway will halve travel time from Delhi to Amritsar and Delhi to Katra,�? the statement said.
It added that the Greenfield Expressway will connect key Sikh religious sites at Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Tarn Taran and holy Hindu shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji.
“The Expressway will also connect key economic centres like Ambala, Chandigarh, Mohali, Sangrur, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Kathua and Samba in four States/Union Territories of Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, the statement said.
The Expressway will reduce the distance between Delhi to Amritsar/Katra by about 40 km and enable the commuters to travel from Delhi to Amritsar within 4 to 4½ hours and Delhi to Katra within 6 to 6½ hours, sources said.
The Government statement didn’t mention timeline for completion of the Expressway.
National Highways Authority of India, MoRT&H, Government of India had floated the e-tenders for the prestigious Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway stretch from Balsua in district Pathankot, Punjab to Satwari up to 4th Tawi Bridge in the Jammu City in May last year.
The total length of this stretch was 97 kilometres and estimated cost Rs 5495 crore. The construction period was targeted to be completed by 2024.
The Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway will be complete access controlled and an environmental friendly Expressway with planned cover of about 10 lakh trees to improve carbon footprints. Entry and exit from the Expressway planned at designated interchanges on all National Highways and major State Highways intersecting the Expressway. For comfort of the road user, 40 wayside Amenities including seven in J&K will be constructed.
In Haryana, 160 km of the total Expressway passes through the State and the section is being built at a cost of more than Rs 10,400 crore with contracts for 130 km already awarded.
Sources said the pilgrims visiting holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi Ji will be major beneficiaries with construction of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway especially those travelling by road from Northern Indian States/Union Territories of New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh as the Expressway will sharply reduce travel time.