The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for development of four laning from ‘end of Pandoh Bypass to Takoli’ section of National Highway (NH)-21 in Himachal Pradesh.

The cost is estimated to be Rs.2775.93 crore including cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road to be developed is approximately 19 kms.

This work will be done under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase IV B on Hybrid Annuity Mode.

The project will help in expediting the improvement of infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh and in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between ‘end of Pandoh Bypass to Takoli’ section. The development of this stretch will also help in uplifting the socio-economic condition of this region in the State.

The project will also provide all weather connectivity to important tourist destinations. This will help in reduction in accidents and saving of precious human lives due to construction of tunnels in the accident prone land slide areas. The distance from Kiratpur to Manali will get reduced by 38 km, resulting in a time saving of approximately three hours. This will result in huge saving in terms of fuel consumption and wear and tear cost of vehicles.

NHAI is also executing the four laning of NH-22 from Parwanoo to Shimla (including Shimla Bypass). The length of this project is 89.71 km and the cost is Rs. 2739 cr. The work has already been started in the stretch from Parwanoo to Solan. The project construction from Solan to Shimla is likely to commence shortly.

The DPR preparations for four laning of following projects have also been undertaken by the NHAI:

The construction of project will help uplift the socio-economic condition of this region of the state of Himachal Pradesh. It will further enhance the employment potential for the local labourers for the project activities in highways and tunnel constructions.