In October, 2021, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the proposal for development of 'PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP)' for providing multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various Economic Zones of the Country. The PM GatiShakti NMP will depict the economic zones and the infrastructure linkages required to support them with an objective to holistically integrate all the multimodal connectivity projects and remove missing gaps for seamless movement of people, goods & services.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has planned to augment the NH network to 2,00,000 Km by 2022-23 by connecting all State capitals in the North Eastern region with either 4 lane national highways or 2 alternate alignments of 2 lane configuration each and completing 4/6 lane NH covering length of 5,590 km along coastal areas.

The details of Economic Corridor, National Corridor & Expressways envisaged under Bharatmala Pariyojana are as follows:

A study named ‘Logistics Efficiency Enhancement Program (LEEP)’ has been conducted with an aim to enhance the economic growth of the country by making the logistics sector more efficient, seamless, and integrated. It also aims to drive down logistics costs as a share of GDP.

Bharatmala Pariyogana Phase-1 provides for 4 laning of Kochi-Munnar-Theni section of NH-85, which passes through Idukki, with the primary focus on optimizing the efficiency of the movement of the goods and people.

This information was given by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

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MJPS