Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday announced that the long-delayed Mumbai-Goa highway will finally be completed by June 2025. Speaking at an event, Gadkari also asserted that India’s road infrastructure will surpass that of the United States within the next two years.

“There were numerous difficulties with the Mumbai-Goa highway. But do not worry, we will complete the road 100 per cent by this June,” Gadkari assured, adding that the highway will significantly reduce travel time between Mumbai and Goa while boosting economic development in the Konkan region. Gadkari further said that in the next 18 months, India’s road infrastructure will be better than that of the United States of America.

“Infrastructure development is very important for India…I am working to accelerate the pace of highway construction in the country to 100 km per day,” he said, adding that the highways ministry will construct 25,000 km two and four-lane highways in coming years. “There is no dearth of money for the highways projects,” Gadkari said.

The pace of highway construction in the country touched a record of 37 km per day in 2020-21. The highways ministry constructed 10,237 kilometres in 2019-20, 13,435 kilometres in 2020-21, 10,457 kilometres in 2021-22, 10,331 kilometres in 2022-23 and 12,349 kilometres in 2023-24.

The Mumbai-Goa highway project has faced multiple delays over the past decade, with the most recent deadline of December 2023 also missed. Locals, lawmakers and civic organisations have consistently raised concerns about the unfinished work.

Explaining the reasons behind the long delay, Gadkari cited complex land acquisition issues, particularly legal disputes and ownership battles among family members. “There were fights among brothers, court cases and hurdles in providing compensation for land. But these matters have now been resolved and the project has gained momentum,” he said.

He admitted that both the Delhi-Jaipur and Mumbai-Goa highways had become black spots for the ministry, but emphasised that efforts are being made to change that.

Gadkari also outlined other major infrastructure plans, including work on the Delhi-Mumbai and Surat-Chennai highways. “The Delhi-Mumbai highway will link to Surat and from there, a new highway will extend all the way to Chennai via Nasik, Ahmadnagar and Solapur. This means travellers going south no longer need to pass through Mumbai or Pune,” he explained, adding that the vision of seamless travel from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is close to being realised.

Highlighting the scale of his ministry’s work, Gadkari said that 57 express highways are currently being constructed across the country with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore.

He also teased a major overhaul in toll collection, saying a new policy will be announced within the next 15 days. “Physical toll booths will soon be a thing of the past. Once the new policy is in place, there will be no reason for anyone to complain about tolls,” he said.

(With inputs from PTI)