Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, told the media that the travel time between Delhi and Kullu will be reduced to seven hours in the next two years. Gadkari, who was at Kullu, told the media that the road between Chandigarh to Manali takes nine hours, and its condition is horrible, laying the foundation stone for new roads and highways projects. The foundation stones for road projects worth Rs 6,155 crore were laid by the minister for Himachal Pradesh. Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister, who was also present while Union MoS (Finance) said that the proposed Delhi-Katra Express Highway, which will connect Ludhiana, is aimed to give Green-field access to Roopnager. Finally, Delhi-Ludhiana-Roopnager will provide four-lane connectivity to Kullu, and the journey time will be seven hours. Similarly, Gadkari said, travelling via the Delhi-Meerut express highway normally takes four and half hours; however, now it will be reduced to 45 minutes. He informed the media that he would inaugurate the road next month. According to his plans, two other landmark projects to reduce travel time between Delhi to Haridwar, Delhi to Chandigarh and Delhi to Dehradun will also be accomplished. Gadkari visited Rohtang Tunnel earlier in the day, an engineering marvel of its kind at the height of 10,000 feet, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated in October 2020. The union minister said that ducks are cleared to construct new tunnels on Manali-Leh National Highway to provide an alternate route for Leh-Ladakh, apart from the under-construction tunnel at Zojila Pass in Kashmir. Road projects worth Rs 15,000 crore would be awarded in Himachal Pradesh this year. The DPR for the construction of a 40 km left bank road project at Manali would be prepared first. Gadkari suggested the state government work out a rehabilitation plan for displaced people by constructing the four-lane projects. He extended an invitation to the displaced farmers and landowners to discuss their grievances, which they tried to raise at Bhuntar airport on Wednesday on Gadkari's arrival to Kullu, an incident that took an ugly turn between CM security officials and SP Kullu Gaurav Singh. Image Source Also read: Delhi-Jaipur stretch set to become India's first e-highway Also read: Bakarpur-Manikpur national highway in Bihar gets nod from centre