Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for two sections of the Surat-Chennai Expressway during his visit to Karnataka on January 19, 2023. Modi laid the foundation stone for one 71-km section and another 65.5-km section of the upcoming expressway.
Part of the National Highway 150C (NH150C), the 71-km section will run between the Badabal village and Maradagi S. Andola village in the Kalaburagi District. The government will spend Rs 2,100 crore to develop it.
The 65.5- km section, which is also part of the NH150C, runs between Maradgi S Andola and Baswantpur in the Yadgiri district, and will cost Rs 2,000 crore to the exchequer.
“The government is emphasising on the development of infrastructure and this road project will eliminate connectivity issues in North Karnataka, which will benefit every person,” Modi said after the foundation-laying ceremony.
The six-lane Surat-Chennai Expressway will pass through six states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Upon completion, the expressway will reduce the existing route from 1,600 km to 1,270 km. Upon completion, the 1,270-km Surat-Chennai Expressway will be the longest expressway in India after the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.
To be developed at an estimated cost between Rs 45,000 to Rs 50,000 crore, the Surat-Chennai Expressway, will pass through major cities like Nashik, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Kalaburgi, Kurnool, Kadappa and Tirupati. The expressway includes building new sections and upgrading old sections.
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On PM’s agenda
The prime minister also laid the foundation stone and inaugurated various developmental projects related to irrigation and drinking water during his visit.
Modi laid the foundation stone of the Yadgiri multi-village drinking water supply scheme under the Jal Jeevan Mission which will be laid at Kodekal in Yadgiri. To cost over Rs 2,050 crore, the project will provide potable water to about 2.3 lakh households of more than 700 rural habitations and three towns of the Yadgiri district.
He also inaugurated the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal-Extension Renovation and Modernisation Project (NLBC-ERM). The project, with a canal carrying capacity of 10,000 cusecs, can irrigate 4.5 lakh hectare of command area. It will benefit more than 3 lakh farmers in 560 villages of Kalaburgi, Yadagir and Vijaypur districts. The total cost of the project is about Rs 4,700 crore.
During his second visit to the state this month, the PM distributed Hakku Patra (title deeds) to about 50,000 beneficiaries of newly declared revenue villages in Karnataka. The PM earlier visited the poll-bound southern state on January 12, 2023, to launch the National Youth Festival.
