Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday laid foundation stones of three mega road projects worth Rs 2,655 crore on the 89-km-long Parwanoo-Shimla national highway in Himachal Pradesh.Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was also present on the occasion.Gadkari, accompanied by Health Minister J.P. Nadda who hails from the state, laid the stones of four-laning of the Parwanoo-Solan National Highway 5 (earlier known as National Highway 22), for the Solan-Kaithalighat block and the Shimla bypass.Good condition of the roads would promote the state's tourism industry, he said.Gadkari also said the central government had decided that road construction work would be started only after acquiring 80 per cent land.He thanked the state government for taking up land acquisition work and forest clearances speedily.
The state had 2,630-km-long national highways and road projects worth Rs 50,000 crore to be started in the next two years, he said, according to an official statement.He said no compromise would be made on the quality of construction works and the works would be allocated to small contractors on the request of the state government.He urged the Chief Minister for setting up of pre-cast iron industry in the state.Gadkari announced new highways in the state, the including 114-km-long Sanaura-Rajgarh-Nohradhar-Haripurdhar-Jamli road, the 58-km-long Sataun-Renuka-Dadahu-Dosadka road and the 110-km-long Sainj-Deha-Chopal-Nerwa-Phedach Pul road.Virbhadra Singh said roads are major mode of connectivity in hill states like Himachal Pradesh.He said at present there are 35,000 km motorable roads in the state and 3,120 panchayats have road connectivity.