Delhi seeks Rs 1,500 crore from Centre to upgrade road infrastructure

Delhi: The Delhi government has requested Rs 1,500 crore from the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) to support various infrastructure initiatives, including the repair, decongestion and modernisation of major city roads.

The proposal was made during a high-level meeting in June, chaired by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, where Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta sought financial support for road improvement projects.

“The state government has been asked to submit a priority list of the projects for consideration under the CRIF to the Ministry for further action,” official documents state.

CRIF is a scheme of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways that provides funds to states and Union Territories for the development and maintenance of key roads and infrastructure.

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The Delhi government has initiated multiple projects aimed at reducing dust pollution, improving road quality and easing traffic congestion.

While the Public Works Department (PWD) manages about 1,400 km of roads in the capital, a plan is already underway to repair 600 km of roads over the year. PWD Minister Parvesh Verma earlier announced that these upgrades are aligned with the city’s broader environmental and infrastructure goals.

The government has also identified 12 high-traffic corridors, including stretches on the Delhi-Haryana and Delhi-Uttar Pradesh borders, where targeted interventions are planned.

Officials said the central funds would be in addition to the PWD’s own budget.

During the meeting, Gadkari also expressed his displeasure over toll plazas “undermining” the objective of developing signal-free corridors under the Delhi De-congestion plan.

According to officials, the issue of toll plazas causing traffic congestion at the entry points of Delhi was discussed. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) toll-collection booths, especially on the Delhi-Gurugram and Delhi-Ghaziabad expressways, lead to long vehicle queues, causing inconvenience to commuters daily.

“In light of this, the minister advised MCD to promptly remove the temporary toll plaza located on the National Highway. He suggested the Chief Minister of Delhi explore compensating the revenue loss to MCD through state government resources,” the minutes of the meeting state.

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CM Gupta has also requested the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take up maintenance of service lanes and drains along the three stretches recently handed over by the state to the centre — NH-9, NH-2, and NH-148A — for improvement.