March 14, 2002

‘25’

RAJYA SABHA

COMPLETION OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS CONNECTING METRO CITIES

    The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) comprises Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) connecting the four metros, viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and North-South and East-West (N-S and E-W) corridors connecting Srinagar to Kanyakumari with Kochi-Salem spur and Silchar to Porbandar respectively. These National Highways are being improved from existing 2-lane highways to 4-lane divided carriageway. An amount of Rs. 6363 crores, which includes expenditure on NHDP and other projects being implemented by National Highways Authority of India, has been spent upto February, 2002. GQ component was originally scheduled for completion by December, 2004, which is now targeted for substantial completion by December, 2003. N-S and E-W corridors were originally scheduled for completion by December, 2009, which are also now targeted for completion by December, 2007.