PM Modi to Inaugurate Rajasthan Section of Amritsar-Jamnagar Economic Corridor on Jul 8 | Details

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the six-lane greenfield expressway section of the Amritsar-Jamnagar economic corridor on July 8. He will dedicate to the country the 500-km section in poll-bound Rajasthan, which runs from Jakhdawali village in Hanumangarh district to Khetlawas village in Jalore district.

The expressway, which is part of the 1,256-km Amritsar-Jamnagar economic corridor, has been built at a cost of Rs 11,125 crore and will significantly reduce travel time and improve connectivity between major cities as well as industrial corridors. The access-controlled greenfield section will not only facilitate seamless transportation of goods but enhance tourism and economic development.

The whole project, being built at a cost of Rs 80,000 crore, is part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I programme. It spans four states, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Here is all you need to know about the Amritsar-Jamnagar economic corridor:

• Estimated to be ready by December 2025, the economic corridor will reduce the distance between Amritsar and Jamnagar from 1,430 km to 1,256 km, and reduce travel time between the two cities from 26 hours to 13 hours. However, last year, union minister Nitin Gadkari had said the project will be ready by September 2023.
• A major part of the economic corridor will have six-lane access-controlled greenfield alignment for 900 km while the remaining 300 km involves upgrading existing national highways. Greenfield expressways are designed so as to avoid inhabited areas and bring development to new areas. This also reduces land acquisition costs as well as construction time
• The project has been divided into eight sections, but poll-bound Rajasthan is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of this economic corridor as 50 percent of the route (a little over 600 km) passes through six districts of the state: Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Barmer and Jalore
• Delhi will also be connected to the Amritsar-Jamnagar economic corridor through the Delhi-Katra expressway, which will further connect this area to Jammu and Kashmir. In Bathinda, it will also be connected with the Ludhiana-Bathinda-Ajmer expressway and Pathankot-Ajmer economic corridor
• The project starts from Tibba village in Kapurthala district and ends in Jamnagar. It connects Bathinda, Chautala, Rasisar, Deogarh, Sanchore, Santalpur and Malia along the way. Out of the eight sections, five are greenfield and three brownfield.