Improvement of 5 National Highways (NHs) connecting Chardham viz. Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath including Tanakpur to Pithoragarh section of Kailas- Mansarovar yatra covering a total length of 825 km is being undertaken in the State of Uttarakhand. Out of 825 km, about 601 km has been completed. The total length of Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor is about 213 km which was awarded at the cost of about Rs. 6,392 crores and has present progress of 30.7 %.

Allocation for development of NHs is made State-wise and not NH-wise. Expenditure of about Rs. 3,520 crore was incurred for development of NHs in the State of Uttarakhand in the Financial Year 2022-23.

Development of NHs is a continuous process which is taken up based on traffic demand, safety requirements, availability of funds and inter-se priority. Time period for completion of NH projects is generally two to three years. NH projects including those in the State of Uttarakhand mainly get delayed due to reasons such as delay in land acquisition, forest clearance, tree cutting, utility shifting, contractual issues, litigation and slow progress of contractors.

Ministry keeps on receiving proposals from various State Governments/Union Territories (UTs), etc., including from the State of Uttarakhand, for declaration / upgradation of State roads as new NHs. Ministry considers declaration of some of the State roads as NHs from time to time based on the requirements of connectivity, inter-se priority and availability of funds.

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

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