Gandhinagar: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari held a high-level meeting in Gandhinagar with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and senior officials of the concerned departments to comprehensively review National Highway projects in Gujarat.

During the review of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) projects under implementation in the state, Gadkari announced that work on extending the Ahmedabad–Dholera Expressway to Bhavnagar will begin within the next three months.

He also urged the Gujarat government to promptly submit proposals to the Union Ministry to secure funding for National Highway projects under the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF).

The Union Minister expressed satisfaction with the progress made on various National Highway projects since the review meeting with the state government in November 2025. During the meeting, Chief Secretary M.K. Das and Chief Minister’s Advisor S.S. Rathore presented an update on the progress of ongoing projects.

The presentation highlighted several key highway projects, including the six-laning of National Highway-48 between Vadodara and Mumbai, the Samakhiali–Maliya section of the Morbi–Samakhiali road, the Rajkot–Gondal–Jetpur road, the Ahmedabad–Vadodara Expressway, the Ahmedabad–Godhra–Indore road, the Jamnagar–Amritsar Expressway, the Palanpur–Samakhiali Corridor, and the Ahmedabad–Shamlaji six-lane project.

Gadkari also congratulated Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel for introducing a model that suspends non-agricultural (NA) permission proceedings for 60 days during the DPR preparation stage to facilitate land acquisition for road alignments. He said the Gujarat model has the potential to serve as a benchmark for the rest of the country.

Chief Minister Patel said effective coordination among various state government departments has accelerated land acquisition and other activities related to road infrastructure development.

The Chief Minister also urged the Union Minister to expedite work on the Palanpur–Samakhiali Corridor.

Gadkari stressed that trees affected by road expansion projects should be transplanted to suitable locations along the same road to ensure infrastructure development while preserving the environment.

The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Dr. Jayanti Ravi, Additional Chief Secretary (General Administration) Dr. Anju Sharma, NHAI Technical Member Alok Deepankar, Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Manoj Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Sanjeev Kumar, Principal Secretary (Forest and Environment) Dr. Vinod Rao, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Dr. Vikrant Pandey, Secretary (Roads and Buildings) P.R. Patelia, Special Secretary Gandhi, and other senior officials from the NHAI and the Gujarat government. DeshGujarat