New Delhi, March 8 : Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Friday that an outlay of Rs 1532.97 crore has been approved for taking up new highway projects in Gujarat that will reduce congestion in key areas and cut travel time.

The first project includes 4-laning of the 12.4 km long Dhrol to Amaran section of National Highway-151-A in Morbi district of Gujarat with an investment of Rs 625.58 crore.

He said that the project was the missing link to the Amritsar-Jamnagar corridor and will reduce travel time by about one hour which will reduce the vehicle operating cost and ensure safe flow of traffic.

The development of the highway will complete the connectivity between four refineries in 3 states and several economic and social nodes in the project impact area.

'After completion of these stretches, the Dhrol-Amran-Pipjia route section will provide seamless connectivity to the industrial city of Jamnagar with the eastern and northern parts of Gujarat and also with the Jamnagar-Rajkot section of National Highway-151A/State Highway 25,' the minister said.

He said that better connectivity will open doors to economic prosperity with the facility of industries and agro parks in the area, which will create new employment opportunities and lead to economic prosperity.

'There will also be better connectivity with the existing Navlakhi Port and the upcoming investment area in Navlakhi. Besides, connectivity of religious and tourist places in Eastern Gujarat will also improve,' he added.

Gadkari also said that approval has been given for the construction of additional structures including pipelines in 15 km long stretch of Vadodara-Surat section on National Highway-48 in Vadodara, Bharuch and Surat districts of Gujarat at a cost of Rs 907.39 crore.

He said that National Highway-48 is a part of the Golden Quadrilateral and is considered to be one of the busiest National Highways, which starts from Delhi and passes through Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The under-construction Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway crosses this project route, which will be integrated with National Highway-48 to ease traffic movement.

All existing narrow bridges on Vadodara-Surat section of NH-48 are contemplated to be replaced with new 3 or 4-lane bridges on LHS/RHS/both sides as per site requirement to eliminate bottlenecks and traffic jams. This will improve the safety of road users.

Further, to streamline traffic and improve the safety of route users, grade separator structures have been proposed at various locations identified as accident black spot locations.

The project will result in savings in productivity and fuel costs by reducing travel time for passenger and freight transportation. Improved road safety can lead to cost savings by reducing accidents and their associated economic impacts, the minister added.

/IANS