“In Gujarat, we have on-going projects worth Rs 4,100 crore, while projects worth Rs 16,219 crore are in the pipeline, which are expected to be completed by 2015,” said Sharma.

He added: “All the projects are being implemented in phases. There are seven projects in which various phases, including connectivity between major cities and ports, strengthening and widening of highways, and construction of flyovers, ring-roads and other civil works are to be implemented.”

The projects in the pipeline include the development of the 133 km stretch connecting Hazira port in Surat to the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, 210 kms between Ahmedabad and the Madhya Pradesh border, the 73 km Kandla-Mundra section in Kutch, and the 127 km long Jetpur-Somnath section in Saurashtra.

Besides these, the NHAI will also undertake the widening of 95 kms of the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway, 140 kms of the Udaipur-Ahmedabad highway and 56 kms of the Gandhidham-Samakhiali section into six lanes.

NHAI also plans to develop the Ring Road and the bypass in Surat and Ahmedabad, for which it has written to the Gujarat government and is awaiting reply, Sharma said.

According to NHAI officials, Gujarat will be the first state where the six-laning of a major stretch of the national highway will be completed. This will be the Vadodara-Surat stretch on NH-8.

NHAI officials said that better road connectivity between major cities would boost industrial development and tourism in the state.

Connectivity with the 10 ports will help exporters, whereas the development of roads between industrial cities like Surat, Ahmedabad, Bharuch, Ankleshwar and Vapi will boost the industries.

The remote tribal areas in the state will also be better connected to other parts of the state and the country, which will ultimately help in the development of these areas, they added.