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UP roads will be better than US roads by 2024: Nitin Gadkari

In his mission to improve the conditions of Indian roadways, the Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has been very hard at work. In the recent few years, the minister has sanctioned projects worth lakhs of crores across the entire nation to improve the connectivity and conditions of roads. Now recently while speaking at the 81st Annual Session of the Indian Roads Congress, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh the union minister also made a huge statement. He said that by 2024, the road infrastructure of the state will be at par with that of the US!

UP roads will be better than US roads by 2024: Nitin Gadkari

During the session, the MoRTH chief announced various projects across the state of Uttar Pradesh that will be worth a total of Rs 7000 crores. While speaking at the session he quoted US President John F Kennedy “American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good,” and said, “I’ve promised (UP CM) Yogi Ji that before the end of 2024, we’ll make the road infrastructure of Uttar Pradesh equivalent to that of the USA” He further stated that a total of Rs 5 lakh crore will be invested on roads in Uttar Pradesh before 2024.

According to the minister within two years in Uttar Pradesh, numerous projects will be completed. Some of the projects that he stated during IRC were 13 railway overbridges worth Rs 1,000 crore, the Shahabad bypass-Hardoi bypass for Rs 1,212 crore, the Shahjahanpur to Shahabad bypass worth Rs 950 crore, and a few others.

The road network is crucial for reaching the goal of a USD 5 trillion GDP set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Gadkari. The minister stressed that it was necessary to utilise “trash” for road development in Uttar Pradesh without endangering the environment. He emphasised the need to consider the environment as well as economics. The Union minister also urged people to switch from petrol and diesel to CNG, ethanol, methanol, and electric cars, which he said would result in lower transportation costs.

The union minister also added that currently the nation is producing 100,000 litres of bioethanol from stubble and is also trying to produce bio-CNG. Green hydrogen, which Gadkari called “the need of the future,” will enable 117 aspirational areas of the country to become economically robust and create jobs.

In other Ministry of Road Transport & Highways news, recently Nitin Gadkari through his official Twitter handle announced that the rule making 6 airbags compulsory in all passenger cars sold in India has been deferred to the 1st of October 2023. He stated, “Considering the global supply chain constraints being faced by the auto industry and its impact on the macroeconomic scenario, it has been decided to implement the proposal mandating a minimum of 6 Airbags in Passenger Cars (M-1 Category) w.e.f 01st October 2023.” He further added, “Safety of all passengers travelling in motor vehicles irrespective of their cost and variants is the foremost priority,”

At the moment, all passenger automobiles sold in India must include driver and passenger airbags, ABS+EBD, reverse parking sensors, front seat belt alarms, and speed alerts. Bharat NCAP, a new crash testing methodology being developed in India, is anticipated to replace the present model and significantly increase the safety of automobiles sold there. A positive move in this approach is the addition of 6 airbags.