To expedited lengthy land acquisition procedures delaying major infrastructure projects in Goa, including the Mumbai–Goa National Highway redevelopment, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, advised the state government to hire retired officials.
“I suggested to them that they take some retired people,” he said, speaking on the side lines of another event on Tuesday. “National Highways Authority of India will pay them. The maximum problems are related to land acquisition. That is the reason we are taking more people to strengthen the land acquisition department.” He expressed concern over the delay of, and therefore cost escalation in, major projects. “Work is going on everywhere from Maharashtra border to the Karnataka border,” he said. “So we need the process of land acquisition to become faster.”
On Monday, at a review meeting with the Public Works Department, Mr. Gadkari had expressed unhappiness at the slow pace of the redevelopment of the Goa section of the national highway.
