Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said ₹5 lakh crore would be spent to develop road network in Andhra Pradesh by the end of 2024.
Mr. Gadkari was in the city to lay foundation stone virtually for the road and flyover projects in the Godavari region.
Addressing a gathering at the Government Arts College here, Mr. Gadkari said ₹2 lakh crore had already been spent on certain road projects in the State. Road projects costing ₹1 lakh crore were under way, he added.
Green express highways
“The Ministry has decided to connect Andhra Pradesh with Central India by developing a network of roads between Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Maharashtra. All these roads are green express highways,” he said.
Mr. Gadkari laid the stone for three highway projects and five flyovers in the Godavari region by clicking the remote at the public meeting.
Mr. Gadkari said a whopping ₹2,625 crore would be spent to lay the three highways — Vakalapudi-Uppada (40 km), Samarlakota-Achampeta (12.25 km) and Rampachodavaram-Koyyuru (70.12 km). A sum of ₹1,345 crores would be spent on the Vakalapudi-Uppada road project on the Kakinada coast, he added.
Mr. Gadkari said the five flyovers would be built at a cost of ₹225 crore in Rajamahendravaram along the National highway-216A.
The Union Minister appealed to the State government to adopt e-vehicles for public transport in cities such as Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Rajamahendravaram.
“The coastline will be an advantage for solar power production, while the Godavari river belt helps in generating green hydrogen to minimise dependence on fuel,” said Mr. Gadkari.
Rajamahendravaram MP M. Bharat and BJP State president Somu Veerraju thanked Mr. Gadkari for granting the road projects to the State.
