Umesh Singh 
The Madhya Pradesh government has given its nod to the ambitious Chambal ‘Progress –Way’ project. In a maiden virtual cabinet meeting, chaired by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the proposed project was duly approved. The estimated cost of the Chambal ‘Progress –Way’ would be Rs 8000 crore and will cover a distance of 400 km.
Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar lauded the project as game changer. The centre has decided to turn the ravines into arable land and collaborated with World Bank for the purpose. There is lot of scope for development in Beehad (ravine) area in Gwalior-Chambal region. The two projects including Progressway and Ravine Reclamation/development will be game changers for integrated development.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia in his response to complement union Highway and Transport minister Nitin Gadkari by adding that the project on its completion will fulfill the long cherished dream of his father Madhavrao Scindia. My father had a dream that Gwalior-Chambal would be developed as industrial hub in the state. I am confident that after the completion of Chambal Progressway, his dreams would be fulfilled, said Scindia. "I took initiative for completion of Dewas-Gwalior four lane highway, which helped local traders, farmers, and youths to great extend. Now the same benefits will reach to people of Gwalior-Chambal region after completion", added Scindia.
The project covering MP, Rajasthan and UP will provide cross-connectivity with Golden Quadrilateral’s Delhi-Kolkata corridor, North-South corridor, East-West corridor and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.According to information the change in the name to Chambal Progressway from earlier Gwalior-Chambal Expressway, is attributed to modern trending tag and nothing more. The four lane highway from Rajasthan border to Morena and Bhind is one of the 22 greenfield highways to be constructed by the union government. Around 1150 hectare land will be required for the project in MP. Of this, around 550 hectare was government land and rest need to be acquired from farmers’.
The NHAI has been tasked to prepare the DPR (detail project report) at the earliest. The project is expected to be completed in about 2 years after land acquisition. The royalty and tax exemption on the project material will save more than Rs 1000/ cr. The MP government has already exempted royalty on minerals for the project. The state will share the Rs 650/ cr land acquisition cost. The centre has also suggested forming a Chambal Development Authority for better coordination and progress of the region. The project can have logistic parks on the lines of multi-model logistic parks being constructed in Indore, Jabalpur and Jaipur.
