NH development to focus on building more ‘greenfield’ highways; roll out of mega programme on ropeways likely

NEW DELHI: In a major shift of focus, the government’s National Highway development programme will now concentrate on building more ‘greenfield’ highways rather than on expanding the existing network. The next phase of Bharatmala-II, under which nearly 8,500km of NHs will be built at an investment of Rs 3.5 lakh, will mostly be building ‘greenfield corridors’, sources said.
Some of the identified stretches include Pune-Bengaluru, Chennai-Trichy, Varanasi-Kolkata, Gorakhpur-Siliguri and Hyderabad-Bengaluru.
TOI has learned that the government is likely to roll out a proper programme for ropeway projects, which has a huge potential to provide connectivity in the hill states. Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur have forwarded nearly 50 proposals for ropeway projects.