Government to construct Rs 4,700 crore ring road in Delhi: Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: To decongest roads in the national capital, Union Surface Transport Minister NitinGadkari today said the Centre was going to construct a ring road at an estimated cost of Rs 4,700 crore.

"The problem of traffic in Delhi is very serious. Our government has decided to spent Rs 4,700 crore and we will construct a cement concrete ring road.

"The tender has been invited for the project. December 11 is the last date to submit the tenders. We will start giving work order after a foundation-laying ceremony by the Prime Minister," Gadkari told reporters outside Parliament.

Regarding construction of another Delhi ring road of whose stretches fall in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and where work has been stopped, Gadkari said, "The governments of UP, Haryana and Delhi were involved in its construction. The work on this stretch has been stopped due to some dispute and the matter has gone to Supreme Court. A committee has been formed under former bureaucrat Bhure Lal to resolve it."

"Today, I have called a meeting of officials of UP and Haryana governments, besides Delhi Lt Governor and MPs to resolve the issue," Gadkari said adding, the Centre will take up the project if the states fail to resolve the dispute.

The minister said he is also going to ask the L-G to involve traffic research institutions to identify the most congested traffic roads in the city and come up with ideas on how to decongest them.