 Golden Quadrilateral |
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| Total Length | 5,846 kilometres (3,633 mi) |
| Development cost | Rs. 60,000 crores |
| Delhi - Kolkata | |
| Length | 1,453 kilometres (903 mi) |
| Route | NH 2 |
| Delhi - Mumbai | |
| Length | 1,419 kilometres (882 mi) |
| Route | NH 8, NH 79A, NH 79, NH 76 |
| Mumbai - Chennai | |
| Length | 1,290 kilometres (800 mi) |
| Route | NH 4, NH 7, NH 46 |
| Kolkata - Chennai | |
| Length | 1,684 kilometres (1,046 mi) |
| Route | NH 6, NH 60, NH 5 |
| NH - List - NHAI - NHDP - MORTH | |
The Golden Quadrilateral is a highway network in India connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, thus forming a quadrilateral of sorts. The largest highway project in India, initiated by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it is the first phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), and consists of building 5,846 kilometres of four/six lane express highways at a cost of Rs. 60,000 crores (US$ 12.317 billion at 1999 prices).[1] As of 2008[update], while the Golden Quadrilateral makes up under 2 percent of India's road network, it carries about 40% of the country's traffic and accounts for one-third of its traffic deaths.[2]
The vast majority of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) is not access controlled, although safety features such as guardrails, shoulders, and high-visibility signs are used. As of September 2007, 96% of the entire work has been completed however.[3] In September 2009, it was announced that the existing four-laned highways would be converted into six-lane highways.[4] The project was reported at various stages to be behind schedule mainly due to land acquisition constraints and disputes with contractors which had to be re-negotiated.[5][6]
The GQ project is managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the first controlled-access toll road to be built in India is a part of the GQ Project though not funded by NHAI, and separate from the main highway. Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) has been one of the major contributors to the infrastructural development activity in the GQ project.
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Economic benefits
The GQ project establishes better and faster transport networks between many major cities and ports. It provides an impetus to smoother movement of products and people within India. It enables industrial and job development in smaller towns through access to markets. It provides opportunities for farmers through better transportation of produce from the agricultural hinterland to major cities and ports for export, through lesser wastage and spoils. Finally, it drives economic growth directly through construction as well as through indirect demand for cement, steel and other construction materials
Route
Only National Highways are used in the Golden Quadrilateral. The four legs use the following National Highways:
- Delhi - Kolkata: NH 2
- Delhi - Mumbai: NH 8 (Delhi - Kishangarh), NH 79A (Ajmer bypass), NH 79 (Nasirabad - Chittaurgarh), NH 76 (Chittaurgarh - Udaipur), NH 8 (Udaipur - Mumbai)
- Mumbai - Chennai: NH 4 (Mumbai - Bangalore), NH 7 (Bangalore - Krishnagiri), NH 46 (Krishnagiri - Ranipet), NH 4 (Ranipet - Chennai)
- Kolkata - Chennai: NH 6 (Kolkata - Kharagpur), NH 60 (Kharagpur - Balasore), NH 5 (Balasore - Chennai)
Important Cities
| Delhi - Kolkata | Delhi - Mumbai | Chennai - Mumbai | Kolkata - Chennai |
|---|---|---|---|
Current status
| No. | Segment | Length Completed (km) | Total Length (km) | Percent Completed (%) | As of (date) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Delhi-Kolkata | 1451 | 1453 | 99.86 | 31 Oct 2009 | [1] |
| 2. | Chennai-Mumbai | 1264 | 1290 | 97.98 | 31 Oct 2009 | [2] |
| 3. | Kolkata-Chennai | 1601 | 1684 | 95.07 | 31 Oct 2009 | [3] |
| 4. | Mumbai-Delhi | 1419 | 1419 | 100 | Nov 2006 | [4] |
| Total | 5734 | 5846 | 98.08 | 31 Oct 2009 | [5] |
The length of Golden Quadrilateral in each State
The completed Golden Quadrilateral will pass through 13 States of India:
- Andhra Pradesh - 1,014 km
- Uttar Pradesh - 756 km
- Rajasthan - 725 km
- Karnataka - 623 km
- Maharashtra - 487 km
- Gujarat - 485 km
- Orissa - 440 km
- West Bengal - 406 km
- Tamil Nadu - 342 km
- Bihar - 204 km
- Jharkhand - 192 km
- Haryana - 152 km
- Delhi - 25 km
- Total - 5,846 km
Future plans
Sections of NH-2, NH-5 and NH-8 have now been prioritized for further widening to six lanes under DBFO (Design, Build, Finance, Operate) pattern and more sections would be six-laned in the near future.On NH - 8 Six lanes work is completed from Vadodara to Surat and now the highway is 6-track
Corruption allegations
In August 2003, Jharkhand-based project director Satyendra Dubey, in a letter to the Prime Minister, outlined a list of malafide actions in a segment of this highway in Bihar. Dubey's claims included that big contractors had inside information from NHAI officials[7], that the contractors for this stretch were not executing the project themselves (as stipulated in the contract) but subcontracting the work small builders who lacked technical expertise[7] and that no follow-up was performed after awarding advances[7]. Dubey's name was leaked by the PMO to the NHAI[7], and he was transferred against his wishes to Gaya, Bihar, where he was murdered on November 27.[7]
The NHAI eventually admitted that Dubey's charges were substantiated, and implemented "radical reforms" in selection and contract procedures.[8] After a lengthy CBI investigation, Mantu Kumar and three accomplices were arrested and charged with murder; however, Mantu escaped from court on September 19, 2005 and remains on the run.[9]
Accidents
In February 2006, a 600 meter stretch of the highway connecting Kolkata to Chennai subsided into the ground, opening up ten meter gorges near Bally, West Bengal [10]. This stretch had been completed a year back by a Malaysian multinational firm, selected after global tendering.[citation needed]
See also
- List of National Highways in India by highway number
- List of National Highways in India
- National Highways Development Project
- North-South and East-West Corridor
- Transport in India
Further reading
- ^ http://www.nhai.org/roadnetwork.htm
- ^ Ullrich, Christy. "India's Golden Quadrilateral", National Geographic, Sep 15, 2008. Though the GQ makes up less than 2 percent of India's road network, it carries about 40 percent of the country's traffic and accounts for one-third of its traffic fatalities.
- ^ "National Highways Development Project Map". National Highways Institute of India. http://www.nhai.org/gqmain_english.htm.
- ^ Megha Bahree. "Ambassador: Indian Economy Will Grow". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/21/india-ambassador-shankar-business-emerging-markets-economy.html.
- ^ "Golden Quadrilateral still has miles to go". Financial Express. http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=100459.
- ^ R.N. Bhaskar. "Crossing the chasm". Forbes India. http://business.in.com/article/briefing/crossing-the-chasm/4202/1.
- ^ a b c d e http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/dec/05bihar1.htm
- ^ http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/full_story.php?content_id=78880
- ^ http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/sep/13dubey.htm
- ^ 2
- Fast Lane to the Future, Don Belt. National Geographic, October, 2008.
External links
- 'Mile by Mile, India Paves a Smoother Future' - extremely detailed New York Times article, dated December 4, 2005 (free registration required)
- "Golden Quadrilateral still has miles to go" - Financial Express article dated August 26, 2005
- Official website of the National Highways Authority of India
- Map of GQ progress on the NHAI website
- Ministry of Road Transport
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