Length: 5,846 km (3,633 mi) Major
junctions: NH 2 Length: 1,290 km (800 mi) | Length: 1,453 km (903 mi) Length: 1,419 km (882 mi) | |
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Major
junctions: NH 8, NH 79A, NH 79, NH 76 | ||
The Golden Quadrilateral is a highway network connecting many of the major industrial, agricultural and cultural centres of India. A quadrilateral of sorts is formed by connecting Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai, and hence its name. Other metropolises also connected by the network are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Kanpur, Pune, Surat, Nellore, Vijayawada and Guntur
Contents
- History and costs
- Economic benefits
- Route
- Current status
- Length in each state
- Corruption allegations
- Progress
- Records
- References
The largest highway project in India and the fifth longest in the world, started by NDA Government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee it is the first phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), and consists of building 5,846 km (3,633 mi) four/six lane express highways at a cost of ₹600 billion (US$8.9 billion). The project was launched in 2001 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee under the NDA government, and was completed in 2012.
The vast majority of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) is not access controlled, although safety features such as guardrails, shoulders, and high-visibility signs are in use.
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 as it was 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. It is a project that came in 1999 and initiated in 2001 by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It was projected to connect four metropolitan cities of India: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The project consisted of constructing four and six-lane express highways. The project was planned to be completed by 2006 but due to delays (like land acquisition, awarding contracts, zoning challenges, and funding problems) it got completed in 2012.
History and costs
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone for the project on 6 January 1999.
In January 2012, India announced the four-lane GQ highway network as complete.
India's government had initially estimated that the Golden Quadrilateral project would cost ₹600 billion (US$8.9 billion) at 1999 prices. However, the highway has been built under-budget. As of August 2011, cost incurred by Indian government was about half of initial estimate, at ₹308.58 billion (US$4.6 billion). The eight contracts in progress, as of August 2011, were worth ₹16.34 billion (US$240 million).
In September 2009, it was announced that the existing four-laned highways would be converted into six-lane highways. The expansion 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.
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-lane work is completed from Vadodara to Surat.
The Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch of the Bengaluru-Chennai stretch is being expanded from four lanes to six lanes by Reliance Infrastructure.
Economic benefits
The projected economic benefits of the GQ project are -
- Establishing faster transport networks between major cities and ports.
- Providing an impetus to smoother movement of products and people within India.
- Enabling industrial and job development in smaller towns through access to markets.
- Providing opportunities for farmers, through better transportation of produce from the agricultural hinterland to major cities and ports for export, through lesser wastage and spoils.
- Driving economic growth directly, through construction as well as through indirect demand for cement, steel and other construction materials.
- Giving an impetus to Truck transport throughout India.
Route
Only National Highways are used in the Golden Quadrilateral. The four legs use the following National Highways (Old Numbering System):
Current status
Govt. of India declares "Golden Quadrilateral" complete - Jan 7th 2012
NHAI - Current status
Length in each state
The completed Golden Quadrilateral passes through 13 states:
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 a highway in Bihar. Dubey's claims included that big contractors had inside information from NHAI officials, that the contractors for this stretch were not executing the project themselves (as stipulated in the contract) but subcontracting the work to small builders who lacked technical expertise and that no follow-up was performed after awarding advances. Dubey's name was leaked by the PMO to the NHAI, and he was transferred against his wishes to Gaya, Bihar, where he was murdered on 27 November.
The NHAI eventually admitted that Dubey's charges were substantiated, and implemented "radical reforms" in selection and contract procedures. After a lengthy CBI investigation, Mantu Kumar and three accomplices were arrested and charged with murder. Mantu escaped from court on 19 September 2005, but was recaptured a month later. In 2010, Mantu and two others were convicted of murder and other offenses and sentenced to life in prison.
Progress
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. This stretch had been completed a year back by a Malaysian multinational firm, selected after global tendering.
Records
In September'2015, a team of Ajay Jagga, Gopal Krishan Sharma and Karan Vaid circumnavigated the Golden Quadrilateral on a Ford's 4-wheeler in 76 hours and 19 minutes, covering 5,907 km (3,670 mi). This expedition has been registered with Limca Book of Records.
In 2013, Arnob Gupta and Revanth, also known as the Flying Doctors, traversed the 5,997 km (3,726 mi) long Golden Quadrilateral in 92 hours and 30 minutes on a two-wheeler (Honda CBR-250).