Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari virtually inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of the 206 km national highway projects worth Rs 1,678 crore in Nashik district in Maharashtra, in the presence of Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Kapil Moreshwar Patil, and Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar. The minister said that the MoRTH has approved the Greenfield expressway project from Surat-Nashik-Ahmednagar-Solapur to Chennai as part of Project Phase 1 to India. The Nashik-Mumbai highway will be repaired and renovated at Rs 5,000 crore, he announced. He also declared the construction of a six-lane, 20 km route from Pimprisado to Gonde and an elevated corridor from Nashik Road to Dwarka. Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said that the expansion of national highways has made transportation in remote tribal areas much easier and connected remote areas to the city. The Greenfield Expressway Project is an access control route that will reduce the distance between Surat and Solapur to 95 kilometres and the distance between Surat and Chennai to about 200 kilometres once completed. Nashik residents will travel to Mumbai via a six-lane road after the project is completed. The total cost is expected to be Rs 600 crore. It has ten underpasses, three robes, and a service road. The project will provide Mumbai with fast and secure connectivity. Nashik Road to Dwarka Chowk is part of the Nashik-Pune (R.M. No. 50) highway, which was recently added to the Bharatmala project. Traffic congestion at Vdarka Chowk will be eliminated as a result of this project, and the trip from Nashik Road to Dwarka will take half the time. Image Source Also read: Gadkari inaugurates NH projects worth Rs 4,075 cr in Ahmednagar