Ahead of the assembly elections in Rajasthan, the central government has started focusing on the state with better connectivity and infra development.
Since May 15, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has visited the state twice to review and inaugurate new projects. Not just Gadkari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also given several projects to the state since April.
Gadkari, who visited the state on May 15 and 22, reviewed several projects including the Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor. This expressway will be connected to Delhi-Katra Expressway near Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district and will facilitate pilgrims going to Vaishnav Devi Dham from Rajasthan.
The Amritsar – Jamnagar greenfield corridor will be connected to the Delhi-Katra Expressway near Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district. With this, the journey of the people of Rajasthan from Delhi-Katra Expressway to Vaishnav Devi Dham will be facilitated through this corridor. #PragatiKaHighway #speed power, pic.twitter.com/93SHGeIJBr– Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) May 22, 2023
During the inspection, Gadkari had said that the expressway would cut travel time between cities in Punjab and Gujarat by 10 hours. It will connect the economic cities of Amritsar, Bhatinda, Sangaria, Bikaner, Sanchore, Samakhiali and Jamnagar in the four states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The six-lane 917-km access controlled expressway is being built at a cost of Rs 22,500 crore.
In addition, the Amritsar-Jamnagar greenfield corridor will be connected to Ludhiana through the four-lane Ludhiana-Bathinda Expressway which will be 75 km long and will connect major cities of Rajasthan with Punjab. This will ease trade flow between these cities. Another 128-km greenfield highway, at a cost of Rs 4,350 crore, will connect Ludhiana with Rupnagar and ease travel from parts of Rajasthan to Kullu-Manali.
In Jaipur, construction of a six-lane greenfield spur from the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is also underway. This E-way to be built at a cost of Rs 4500 crore will be 92 km long. In addition, a greenfield expressway ring road in Jodhpur and a greenfield bypass in Udaipur are also under construction.
Rajasthan got its first Vande Bharat Express today. This will lead to a significant increase in connectivity and a boost to tourism. https://t.co/TqiCCHWeV9Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 12, 2023
Not only road, railway too
On April 12, the state got its first Vande Bharat, increasing connectivity to the national capital. The PM did not visit the state, but inaugurated the train through video conferencing.
On 10 May, less than a month later, the Prime Minister visited Rajasthan and laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation infrastructure projects worth over Rs 5,500 crore at Nathdwara, which included both railway and road projects. He laid the foundation stone for road construction projects for two-lane upgradation in Rajsamand and Udaipur and inaugurated three National Highway projects.
Modi also laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment and gauge conversion project of Udaipur railway station. During his address, Modi said that the day is not far when Rajasthan will be one of the states with 100 per cent rail electrification.
Earlier, the Prime Minister had visited the state in February for the inauguration of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Dausa. During the event, the Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for 247 km of National Highway projects to be developed at a cost of over Rs 5,940 crore, including a 67-km four-lane spur road from Bandikui to Jaipur. At a cost of more than Rs 2,000 crore, a six-lane spur road from Kotputli to Barodaniyo at a cost of about Rs 3,775 crore and a two-lane metalled road of Lalsot-Karauli section is being developed at a cost of about Rs 3,775 crore. 150 crores
‘Not about elections’
When contacted, both the railways and road ministries said the projects have nothing to do with the upcoming elections.
According to a MoRTH official, projects worth Rs 80,000 crore are currently underway in Rajasthan. This year, the ministry is targeting to complete projects worth Rs 20,000 crore.
“We are inaugurating and reviewing projects for different states. Presently, there is no part of the country where our projects are not running. So the election has nothing to do with these projects,” the MoRTH official said.
There was a similar response from the Railways as well. “We are taking up projects based on feasibility and requirement,” said an official, seeking anonymity.
Elections are expected to be held in Rajasthan around November-December and soon after that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be held around March.