Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Passengers traveling on 17 national highways passing through Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Rajasthan will soon get better facilities.

The National Highway Logistics Management (NHLM) company will develop and lease out vacant land along these highways.

New facilities will include food courts, restaurants, shopping stores, toilets, parking, EV charging stations, and dormitories. Until now, these services were mainly available on expressways, where the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) provided them. Now, highways will also get similar services.

In Madhya Pradesh, 86,000 square feet of land along the Gwalior-Shivpuri Highway (NH-46) near Ghatigaon has been marked for development. Additionally, 2.77 lakh square feet of land on NH-52 at Bhatkhedi (Bhojpur-Samlikalan Highway) will also be developed.

Currently, many people run small roadside hotels, dhabas, and shops on national highways, with limited facilities available mainly near toll plazas. However, expressways provide better services.

To improve travel convenience, the government is focusing on enhancing facilities along older national highways. Leasing out empty land will also generate revenue.

Apart from Madhya Pradesh, similar facilities will be developed in West Bengal at Budbud and Rasulpur on NH-19 (Panagarh-Palsit Highway), in Maharashtra at Shembal on NH-930 (Varora-Wani Highway), and at various locations on NH-930, NH-52, NH-161, NH-53, and NH-361. In Rajasthan, NH-58 has been selected for the development of facilities.

On these national highways, vacant land will be leased out to develop food courts, restaurants, shopping stores, car and bus parking, first aid facilities, landscaping, children's play areas, and a safety awareness zone.

EV Charging Stations Set Up

Additionally, EV charging stations and dormitories with 10 to 25 beds will be set up. The most special feature of this project is that regional artisans will be provided kiosks and stalls to promote local art. This will allow travelers passing through these highways to buy unique handicrafts from different regions.