Chenab Bridge, Dwarka Expressway Among 900 Infra Projects To Be Inaugurated Before 2024 Polls

Gearing up for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the government has identified nearly 900 infrastructure projects including iconic Chenab Bridge, long awaited Dwarka Expressway and Ankleshwar-Baroda stretch of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which are to be inaugurated before the polls.

The 900 projects which are being identified as crucial ones, entailing an investment of around Rs 13 lakh crore, are expected to be inaugurated before the forthcoming General Elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government is looking at the hectic roll out of projects in the next 8-9 months.

The details of the presentation at the Monday's (3 July) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi show that while 560 projects costing around Rs 7.6 lakh crore will be inaugurated by February-March 2024, foundation stone for the remaining 340 projects entailing investment of around Rs 5.6 lakh crore will be laid across the states.

These include signature projects. Signature projects are the ones that cost more than Rs 5,000 crore each or are of strategic importance such as the Chenab Bridge, Dwarka Expressway and Ankleshwar-Baroda stretch of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

Sources said 203 projects are ready for inauguration across sectors including highways, railways, atomic energy, coal, petroleum and urban affairs.

They added that the infrastructure ministries have given the timelines for month-wise completion of projects and the ones that will be ready for laying of foundation stone. A maximum of 107 projects costing nearly Rs 2 lakh crore will be ready in December.

A maximum of 93 projects will be from Uttar Pradesh, followed by 84 in Gujarat, 57 in Karnataka and 50 in Rajasthan. The government has also set the target of construction of 12,500 km National Highways and commencing work on another 12,000 km.

In case of the Railways, the target is to commission 5,500 km rail route and 100 per cent electrification of all broad gauge networks. Similarly, it targets commissioning of 108 km of Metro Rail line during the current financial year.