Katra to be linked to Delhi via Amritsar through expressway: MoS

Jammu: The Katra town in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, commonly known as Katra Vaishno Devi, will soon be connected to Delhi via Amritsar through an expressway, Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh said.

"This will not only make the road journey much more comfortable but also considerably reduce the travel time between these important towns", Singh said while speaking at a public gathering in Katra today.

Work on the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway will begin soon and this will be the India's longest expressway passing through Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir covering a distance of 600 kms and costing more than Rs 15,000 crores, he said.

"One of the major benefits from it would be that travel time from Katra to Delhi which presently takes around 11 to 12 hours will come down by at least five to six hours", Singh said.

He said that once this expressway becomes functional, it will give Katra the distinction of being among those few destinations in India which will get connected through the highest class of roadways in the country.

He thanked Union Minister for surface transport Nitin Gadkari for his support to this project.

Singh said that soon after the Narendra Modi government was sworn in on May 26, 2014, one of the first important programmes attended by the Prime Minister was the inauguration of the historic Railway Station of Katra Vaishmo Devi.