New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated two major highway projects — the Delhi sections of the Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) and the Dwarka Expressway, built with an investment of ?11,000 crore, to ease chronic traffic congestion in the national capital and improve connectivity across the National Capital Region (NCR).

Addressing the inaugural function at Rohini, PM Modi said: “Delhi has become a shining example of the development that is taking place in the country.”

The two projects will ease travel, save time and make life more convenient for traders, farmers and all the residents of Delhi.

The Prime Minister said Delhi–NCR infrastructure has become world-class in the last 10 years, and people have benefited from the ease of travel. The effort to develop Delhi further is ongoing, and more projects are coming up, he said.

He highlighted that the two projects had helped to reduce the garbage mountains in Delhi and improve the standard of living of the people.

The Prime Minister also interacted with the construction workers who built the Expressway and appreciated the hard work they put in to complete the world-class infrastructure projects that will reduce travel time, divert freight traffic from the city centre and ease congestion on Delhi’s gridlocked Inner and Outer Ring Roads.

Besides, he held discussions with officials who briefed him on the details of the projects, which include long tunnels, underpasses and elevated sections.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the projects were taken up as a result of the Prime Minister’s vision to decongest Delhi and provide better connectivity in the national capital and the adjoining NCR region. Both are state-of-the-art projects built with a world-class design. In terms of a single road project, it works out to 563 km.