New Delhi, Jul 4 (UNI) Union Minister for Road, Transport & Highways and MSME Nitin Gadkari on Saturday emphasised on expeditious environment clearance, land acquisition and royalty/local tax exemptions to make the proposed Chambal Express Project see the light of the day soon.
Mr Gadkari reviewed the proposed Chambal Express Project with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Member of Parliament Jyotiraditya Scindia, through video conference.
During the meeting, Mr Gadkari underlined that apart from providing smooth traffic and goods movement, the project will immensely benefit the area and people of the backward region, residing along the Expressway.
He said the land acquisition should cater to the development of way side amenities, besides industrial and commercial clusters with potential for having smart cities, mandis and hunar haats on both sides. Thus, the project offers huge employment potential in these districts and adjoining areas, he added.

The Rs 8200 crore Project, passing through MP, UP and Rajasthan, envisages connecting Bhind to Kota. It will also provide cross connectivity with Golden Quadrilateral's Delhi-Kolkata corridor, North-South Corridor, East-West Corridor and the Delhi-Mumbai-Expressway, said Mr Gadkari.
Stressing the need to bring down the cost of the project, the Union Minister said royalty and tax exemption on the project material will save Rs 1000 crore more.
He suggested that Chief Ministers of the states, through which the road will pass, should chair a state-level High Powered Committee meeting to sort all state specific issues, which will facilitate faster implementation at the optimum cost.
Madhya Pradesh has already exempted royalty on minerals for this project.

Mr Gadkari informed that he has directed NHAI Chairman RP Singh to prepare the DPR at the earliest. It is expected that the project may be completed in about two years after land acquisition.
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