Infra push: Rs 15k cr Maharashtra-Karnataka ring road skirting past Goa planned, says Gadkari

A ring road from Maharashtra to Karnataka running along the outer side of Goa will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 15,000 crore and it would greatly decongest traffic in the tourism-heavy coastal state, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

He said the demand for such a road from Maharashtra to Goa and thereon to Karnataka border was received from Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Union Minister of State for Power and Renewable Energy Shripad Naik in order to divert existing traffic from the national highway.

“The Union ministry of road transport and highways is considering a ring road from Patradevi (village on Goa-Maharashtra border) to Karnataka which will run through the outer side of Goa, avoiding to cut through middle of the state, to decongest the national highway. I have urged CM Sawant to finalise the alignment of the road, which will be built spending Rs 12,000-Rs 15,000 crore,” Gadkari said.

He was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of an observatory tower on the new Zuari Bridge in south Goa.

The tower, being constructed on Public Private Partnership model with viewing decks, observatory, restaurant and other amenities, has been inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, he added.

“I had suggested that the tower should be like Eiffel Tower from where you can see Goa and the ocean. The second such project (towers) would be set up at Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh). The completion of the tower in Goa would make it an international attraction. The towers would be famous across the world,” the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways said.

“The state government can earn crores of rupees as a revenue through GST on tickets for visitors. The viewing gallery on the tower should also exhibit the history of Goa’s liberation. We should tell the history in a transparent manner with the use of technology,” the minister added.

Speaking about other projects in the state, he said Rs 1,200 crore would be spent on a four-lane road between Cuncolim to Benurdem in South Goa, Rs 2,000 crore on four-lane road from Karnataka border to Mollem (South Goa), Rs 1,000 crore on four-lane road between Mollem to Khandekar and Rs 1,200 crore for a bridge across Zuari bridge in Borim village in South Goa.

Hailing Gadkari for upgrading the state’s infrastructure, CM Sawant said his government is mulling introduction of water taxis to decongest roads.