India (Commonwealth Union)_ According to Nitin Gadkar, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, the government intends to construct green expressways connecting Mumbai and Bengaluru. The green expressway will now reduce the current 16 to 17-hour travel to just five hours. Bengaluru is 981.4 km away from Mumbai. According to media sources, the green expressways will reduce the travel time between Pune and Bengaluru to between 3.5 and 4 hours.
In his statement, Gadkar said that the Mumbai-Pune Express Highway will curve toward Bengaluru at the Ring Road in Pune city. The Pune-Bengaluru Expressway project will cover 12 districts, including Pune, Satara, Sangli, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Gadag, Koppal, Vijayanagara (Ballari), Davanagere, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, and Bengaluru Rural.
According to the minister, in order to cut travel time, the government plans to construct 26 green expressways throughout India over the next three years. The minister had previously stated that by the end of December 2022, new motorways will be built to reduce the travel time from Delhi to Chandigarh, Amritsar, Katra, and Srinagar. In his recent address at an event, Gadkari also stated that his ambition is to develop a road transit network that will allow commuters to reach New Delhi in 12 hours from Nariman Point in South Mumbai. He made the remarks while addressing the students at RD National College in Bandra last week.
Sharing details of his dream projects, the minister said: “Several years ago, I remember the day when the Bandra-Worli Sea Link project was underway. I saw it taking shape each time I was here back then. Now my ambition is to connect Bandra-Worli Sea Link directly with Vasai-Virar and Mumbai-Delhi Express Highway. My dream is also to link Nariman Point with Delhi and cover the whole distance in 12 hours.”