#WeeklyNewsRoundup: Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line To Be Fully Operational By April-End

The Magenta Line of the Delhi Metro (Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden) which connects south Delhi to Noida and west Delhi is expected to get fully functional this month. Of the total 37-km stretch, the 12.64 km Botanical Garden-Kalkaji Mandir stretch became operational on December 25 last year.

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India's first smart and green highway, the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this month, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said. The prime minister will dedicate to the nation the 135-kilometre six-lane access-controlled expressway, built at a cost of nearly Rs 11,000 crore, to decongest the national capital. The project will divert an estimated two lakh vehicles passing through the national capital daily to this bypass.

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Construction of national highways in India hit a record 10,000 kilometre (km) in the year ended March 31, after the government stepped up the pace of implementation and awarding contracts. On an average, 27.5 km of highways was constructed every day in FY18, while contracts were awarded for an average 46 km per day. The construction of 10,000 km of national highways last year compares with 8,231 km in FY17 and 4,260 km (11 km per day) in FY14.

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The Centre has committed a sum of Rs 2,070 crore for the development of 31 cities in Gujarat under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) mission. Among the 31 cities included in the list are Ahmedabad, Dwarka, Jamnagar, Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Godhra, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara. The Centre had committed financial assistance of Rs 35,989.70 crore for development of 500 cities nationwide under the AMRUT mission.

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The Maharashtra government has decided not to increase the ready reckoner rates, giving a respite to the homebuyers and developers. Last year, the rates were increased by 5.86 per cent on an average.

Source: Media reports