Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Rajasthan on 12 February to lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation road development projects worth more than Rs 18,100 crore and Karnataka on 13 February to inaugurate the 14th edition of Aero India 2023 at Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru.

The PM’s emphasis on building an excellent road infrastructure as an engine of growth, development and connectivity in New India, is being realised by the construction of a number of ongoing world-class Expressways across the country. One such important project is the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, whose first completed section, Delhi-Dausa- Lalsot, will be dedicated to the nation by the PM.

The 246 km Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section has been developed at a cost of more than Rs 12,150 crore. The operationalisation of this section will reduce the travel time from Delhi to Jaipur from 5 hours to around 3.5 hours and provide a major boost to the economic development of the entire region.

The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be India’s longest expressway with a length of 1,386 km. It will reduce the travel distance between Delhi and Mumbai by 12 per cent from 1,424 km to 1,242 km and travel time will be reduced by 50% from 24 hours to 12 hours. It will pass through six states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and connect major cities like Kota, Indore, Jaipur, Bhopal, Vadodara and Surat.

The expressway will also serve 93 PM Gati Shakti Economic Nodes, 13 ports, eight major airports and eight multi-modal logistics parks (MMLPs) along with spurs to new upcoming greenfield airports such as Jewar Airport, Navi Mumbai Airport and JNPT port. The expressway will have a catalytic impact in the developmental trajectory of all adjoining regions, thus contributing in a major way to the economic transformation of the country.

During the programme, the PM will also lay the foundation stone for 247 kilometres of national highway projects to be developed at a cost of more than Rs 5,940 crore. This includes a 67-km long four-lane spur road from Bandikui to Jaipur to be developed at a cost of more than Rs 2000 crore, a six-lane spur road from Kotputli to Baraodaneo, to be developed at a cost of about Rs 3,775 crore and two-lane paved shoulder of Lalsot-Karoli section, being developed at a cost of about Rs 150 crore.

In Karnataka on 13 February, Modi will inaugurate the 14th edition of Aero India 2023 at Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru. The theme of Aero India 2023 is “The Runway to a Billion Opportunities’.

Aero India 2023 will witness participation by more than 80 countries. Ministers of about 30 countries and 65 CEOs of global and Indian OEMs are likely to participate in Aero India 2023.