The overflight would greatly reduce traffic congestion in the city, Nitin Gadkari said. (File)
Chennai ,:
The Center has proposed to build a two-story flyover connecting the port of Chennai to other vital sites in Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday.
This would reduce traffic congestion in the city to a large extent, he said.
The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, who was on a private visit to the city, said work on the Bengaluru-Chennai highway will also begin soon.
During his brief interaction with Chief Minister K Palaniswami, Gadkari suggested that the flyover be designed as a double-decker bridge using international consultants instead of four lanes as previously planned.
“Once the project is licensed, for the next 20-25 years, it will solve the Chennai problem,” he said.
Noting that the cost of the project would increase to Rs 5,000 crore against Rs 3,100 crore as previously planned, Mr. Gadkari said he had suggested to the Chief Minister that the GST on steel and cement would be exempt for this project allowing the state government to save Rs 500 crore.
“Another crore of Rs 1,000 will be supported by the central government and NHAI,” said the Union Minister.
Asked about the likely date for the project to be completed, Gadkari said: “It is up to the chief minister to approve the proposal.”
On the Bengaluru-Chennai highway project, he said the land acquisition was complete, but the COVID-19 pandemic was delaying the start of the project.
Referring to his last visit to the state, Mr Gadkari said he then asked CM Palaniswami to partner in the development of a multimodal logistics park in Chennai.
“The state government has agreed to provide land near Chennai, near Port Trust and (they) plan to bid on it before January 2021,” he said.
