New Delhi | The government has decided to construct a new Green Express highway between Surat and Kurnool, which will reduce the distance between Delhi and Chennai by 320 kms, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Replying to supplementary queries during the Question Hour, the minister said the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai will also be reduced to within 12 hours after this highway is constructed.

He was responding to questions relating to the development of road infrastructure in Kolhapur, where there is a lot of traffic and congestion.

"Now, we have taken a decision which is a historical decision, of making the Express highway from Mumbai to Delhi, which is already 70-80 per cent complete.

"After Surat, we are making a new Green Express highway, starting from Surat to Nasik to Ahmednagar to Sholapur to Kurnool, and from there it will connect to Chennai, Kanyakumari, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Cochin. It is a new connectivity from North India to South India," the minister informed members.Green Express highway - representative image

"It is going to reduce the distance between Delhi and Chennai by 320 kms, which in turn will reduce the cost, and because of the highway, we will also reduce the time period. So, Mumbai-Delhi will be within 12 hours," Gadkari said in the Upper House.

Noting that this is a very important connectivity which starts from Pune to Kolhapur, he said the most important problem not for Kolhapur or Maharashtra, it is for entire country as traffic starts from North India starting Delhi, and is going towards South while passing through Surat, Vadodra, Ahmedabad and after that traffic is going to Mumbai and then to Pune and from Pune to Kolhapur and Sholapur.