The UPA government has "speeded up construction and development of national highways. We now have a road programme National Highway Development Project costing Rs 220,000 crore to be implemented in 7 to 8 years," he said laying the foundation stone for the Bangalore-Electronics City elevated highway project.
The Bangalore project is expected to take the pressure off the city's woefully inadequate road infrastructure.
"We are six-laning the Bangalore-Nelamangala stretch of NH-4, including a 4-km long elevated corridor. . . four-laning the Bangalore-Devanahalli section of NH-7. . . Bangalore-Kolar section of NH-4 is being four-laned," he said.
Noting that the country is witnessing a road revolution, similar to the green and white revolutions of the past, Singh said the NHDP, which originally had two phases, has been expanded to include seven phases covering the entire country.
"To NHDP-I and NHDP-II, we have added NHDP-III under which 11,000 km of high traffic density highways connecting state capitals and important centres of tourism and economic activity are being developed. And most importantly, these are being developed largely through public private partnership," Singh said.
The investment on this phase was Rs 55,000 crore (Rs 550 billion), he said.
Besides, the government would be six-laning the entire Golden Quadrilateral project connecting the four metros, improving 20,000 km of two-lane highways, developing 1,000 km of access-controlled expressways and constructing by-passes and ring roads in and around important cities, Singh said.
"I look forward to the day when the face of this nation will be changed by a dense network of world class highways, reaching out to the farthest corners of the country," he said.
With the government's commitment to bridge the rural-urban divide, Singh said there would be demand for road connectivity and for rapid transport system with urban centres and rural areas.
"Our road system, does not as yet cater to these kind of demands. We must therefore strengthen these links between urban and rural areas, as well as between cities in close proximity. This is extremely important if the benefits of development has to move beyond the limited confines of cities to our vast hinterland, so that millions of toiling farmers can also become partners in progress," he said.
Singh said some people wrongly pose the question of development as a conflict between city and vilage. "This is a false notion, no country can develop if its villages do not develop."
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