Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways along with Dr Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa, inaugurated a four lane section from the village of Loutolim to Industrial Development Corporation, Verna on National Highway-566 at Verna, in the state of Goa on November 1, 2021. According to the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, the 3.84 kilometres stretch of road is the missing link road which is developed at the estimated cost of Rs 184.05 crores. The project is 7.32 km long. It starts from Loutolim to Titan Gate of Verna Industrial Corporation, the ministry said. The distance of travel from Ponda to Mormugao is reduced by 12 kilometres, thus reducing travel time by half an hour. For the entire 7.32 kilometre long stretch from Loutolim to titan gate, the total project cost is Rs 229.85 crores.
According to the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, the country is progressing rapidly under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The state of Goa is a tourist destination and the minister wants it to transform into a world-class tourist destination. The state of the art cable-stayed bridge work on the zuari river is currently in progress, and with the help of the Goa government, the ministry is constructing a ‘viewer gallery’ like Eiffel Tower on it, Gadkari further said.
For roads linking Goa from the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, the Centre has invested an amount of Rs 11,000 crore already, further adding Rs 300 crores to it, the Modi government has developed a bridge on the Khandepar River, said Gadkari. The minister also assured that the Mopa link road of 6.6 kilometres of six lane will be constructed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways with the estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore. The development work of the road will be completed by the year 2023. TheUnion Minister also asked the state government to work on the concept of public transport on electricity, which will help in minimizing all types of pollution.