Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone for 25 national highway projects worth Rs 11,721 crore in Jammu & Kashmir.
The construction of 25 national highway projects will provide impetus to the travel and tourism sector and also generate employment opportunities for people in the Union Territory. The construction of these road projects will save time and fuel.
Apart from six more road projects for Jammu, and one project for Kashmir division have been included under the National Highways and Bharatmala Pariyojana category. The inclusion of six road projects in the Jammu division will give a massive push to the economic growth and industrial development, besides tapping the tourism potential in the region.
These newly included road projects are: Kathua-Basholi-Bani-Bhaderwah-Doda (170 km); Doda-Bhaderwah-Chamba (Himachal Road) (132 km ); Dayalachak-Challan-Billawar-Mahanpur-Basohli (118 km); Tawi Bridge-Jammu Airport-Miran Sahib-R S Pura Suchetgarh (Old Jammu-Sialkot Road) (29 km); Surankote-Bafliaz-Shopian-Srinagar (Mughal Road) (145 km); Atholi (Kishtwar)-Machail-Zanskar Road (Kargil); Narabal-Tangmarg-Gulmarg-Baramulla (70 km).
The 25 national highway projects will connect all the villages of Udhampur, Doda, Jammu, Kathua, uplifting thousands of small and big businesses.
Since August 2019, taking into account the figures of October 2021, 3,885 km length of road has been built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the Jammu division alone. 109 projects have been completed in the Jammu division at a cost of Rs 455 crore, including 14 bridges. Apart from this, nine bridges worth Rs 19 crore have been completed under various other schemes.