Union minister Nitin Gadkari will on Wednesday lay the foundation stone of 25 projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Jammu. News agency ANI reported that the projects are 257 kilometres in length and are being constructed with an investment of Rs 11,721 crore.

The projects for which the foundation stone will be laid by the Union highways minister involve rehabilitation and upgradation of some sections and construction of viaduct and tunnels.

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ANI also said that these roads will help in providing all-weather connectivity between Jammu and the Kashmir valley. They thus become strategically important for the swift movement of the defence forces.

The projects will also provide employment, as the proposed roads will connect all other major roads leading to various district headquarters.

A number of highways have either come up or been given a go-ahead signal in various parts of the country, which show the speed with which the NHAI has been working.

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According to a report by the ministry of road, transport and highways (MoRTH), the construction of National Highways touched 37 kilometres per day in the year 2020-21.

It further said that over the last seven years, the length of National Highways has gone up by 50 per cent from 91,287 km as of April 2014 to 1,37,625 km as on March 20, 2021.

The government is also planning to add one lakh kilometres of road network to the existing national highways in the next four years. The mega plan was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he inaugurated the Gati Shakti project in October.