People need to pay for good roads: Nitin Gadkari on toll charges on highways

He said the farmers who have their land near the expressway should not sell it to developers, instead, they should partner with developers

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said people need to pay if they want better road infrastructure in the country.

Reviewing the progress of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (DME) in Sohna in Haryana, the Union Minister told reporters, "If you want to use an air-conditioned hall, you have to pay for it. Otherwise, you can arrange a marriage on a field as well."

He was answering a question on the rise in travel costs due to toll charges. The Minister also said the expressway will decrease travel time significantly, which will result in reduction in cost of fuel.

"The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will decrease travel time to 12 hours. A truck takes 48 hours to reach Mumbai from Delhi. But on the expressway, it will take only 18 hours," he said

"So, a truck will be able to undertake more trips, which would in turn mean more business," Gadkari said.

Developed at Rs 98,000 crore, the Delhi-Mumbai expressway is expected to be completed by March 2023. The first phase from Delhi-Jaipur (Dausa)-Lalsot and Vadodara-Ankleshwar is expected to be open to traffic by March 2022.

The eight-lane access-controlled expressway can be expanded to a 12-lane expressway depending on the volume of traffic in the future.

Gadkari also said that the Road Transport Ministry was exploring options to adopt new technologies for the construction of roads and cut down the use of cement and steel. The government is also exploring options such as the use of steel fibre, which is used abroad, he said.

Gadkari said that in a liberal approach, the ministry had paid 1.5 times more than the market price to farmers for land acquisition. “I appeal to farmers to not sell their land to builders and developers, who usually profit when prices increase after road construction. They (farmers) will get more money if they develop the land,” he said.

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