Delhi to Dehradun in 2 hours! Nitin Gadkari gives a sneak peek into future travel-time between Indian cities

BT Budget Roundtable 2023: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said today that travellers and commuters can now cover the distance between Delhi and Dehradun in two hours with the coming of 32 new green express highways. He added that the distance between Delhi to Haridwar will also be covered in two hours. 

Gadkari noted that not just these two, commuters will also be able to cover other routes such as Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Amritsar, Delhi-Srinagar, Delhi-Katra, Delhi-Jaipur, Bengaluru-Chennai, Bengaluru-Mysuru, and Nagpur-Pune in much lesser duration than earlier. The Union Minister, known for his no-nonsense approach, was in a conversation with BT TV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi at the BT Budget 2023 Roundtable. 

The minister claimed that commuters will be able to cover the distance between Delhi and Chandigarh in two-and-a-half hours, Delhi and Amritsar in 4 hours, Delhi to Jaipur in 2 hours, Delhi to Srinagar in 8 hours, Delhi to Katra in 6 hours, Bengaluru to Chennai in 2 hours, Bengaluru to Mysuru in an hour, and Nagpur to Pune in five hours. 

He added that the distance between Mumbai and Delhi has been reduced from a gargantuan 44 hours to 12 hours, leading to lesser fuel costs.  Earlier, it used to take almost 8-9 hours to cover the distance between Mumbai and Pune, which has now been reduced to less than two hours. He further said that commuters will avoid taking short-distance flights with the improvement in road connectivity. 

Gadkari stated, “I am not against airlines but I’ll give you an example. When we constructed the Mumbai-Pune Express highway in 1997-98, at that time, there were eight flights between Mumbai to Pune. From the last 15 years, there is no flight between Mumbai to Pune. I am giving you a guarantee, at the end of this year, there will be no flights from Delhi to Chandigarh, Delhi to Dehradun, and Delhi to Jaipur.”

He added, “I feel that from Bengaluru to Chennai also, there will be no flights then Mysuru to Bengaluru no flights.” Gadkari furthermore noted that undertaking a two-hour-long car journey from Delhi to Dehradun will be much more practical for a traveller than a nearly four-hour-long flight journey. 

Gadkari also reiterated his commitment that India will have roads equivalent to the US standards by 2024-end. He added that the Centre has increased the amount awarded for road projects to Rs 24,000 crore. 

Gadkari said, “Rs 12,000 crore awarded for road projects, I increased it to Rs 24,000 crore. There is no lack of money in the country.” He added that he does not refuse projects since the country genuinely needs infrastructure development. 

During the course of his interaction with Business Today TV, Gadkari said that more people die in road accidents than in war, the COVID-19 pandemic, and communal riots. He then said that out of those who succumb to these accidents, 60 per cent belong to the 18-34 age bracket. 

The minister said, “This is a matter of serious concern. I could not undertake the required efforts to prevent this. 5 lakh accidents happen, 1.5 lakh fatalities take place, and 3 lakh people are injured grievously. It costs a loss of 3.02 per cent to the national GDP.” Gadkari said that there needs to be fear of the law in youngsters and the government is working towards improving road and automobile engineering and educating children about road safety. 

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