The first range of green highway construction under the Green National Highways Corridor Project (GNHCP), expected to be built by December 2021 in Rajasthan.
In December 2020, the government of India with the World Bank signed an agreement of a $500 million project for developing GNHC across 781 km in four states- Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh.
The plan is to develop five-six green and safe national highways- divided into 23 stretches as a part of the corridor.
It is expected that the completion of the entire project would be by the end of FY 2023-24.
The estimated cost of the entire project is around Rs 7,662 crore, out of which the World Bank is providing Rs 3,500 crore.
The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of a green highway is within its construction. As compared to a regular highway, a green highway utilises green construction technologies and supplies.
Road transport and highways ministry official told the media that even the construction of regular highways has been using greener technologies in the last five-10 years.
The development of GNHCP is supervised directly by the ministry and the World Bank. Neither the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) nor any state Public Works Department (PWD) is involved in executing this project, as usually NHAI and PWD manage highway construction projects.
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