The Centre has agreed to convert the Punjab stretch of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway into a greenfield project by providing a direct spur from Nakodar, onward to the five historic towns leading up to Amritsar. These towns are Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Tarn Taran and Amritsar. The new expressway will reduce travel time between Amritsar to Delhi to four hours.
According to a spokesperson of the Punjab government, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari conveyed this to CM Captain Amarinder Singh during a video-conference on Tuesday. The CM had earlier raised the issue with the Centre after local citizens and their representatives expressed concern over the project’s failure to connect the five historic towns.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal ha thanked Gadkari for acceding to her request to amend the alignment of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway to create a new direct link between Amritsar and Delhi besides creating a Sikh circuit connecting five major Sikh shrines. Calling it as a historic development for Sikhs worldwide, she said that it fulfilled a long-standing demand of the residents of Amritsar and is also in tune with the original alignment proposed during SAD-BJP tenure. She also thanked Gadkari for assuring to name the new expressway in the honour of Guru Sahiban.