Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 11 National Highway projects in Jharkhand valued at about Rs 6,350 crore. The programme included the opening of the 4.18-km Ratu Road flyover in Ranchi and a 23-km four-lane stretch from Shankha to Khajoori in Garhwa. Gadkari also kicked off work on a 32-km upgrade of NH-39 at the Chhattisgarh-Jharkhand border and several other four-lane links and bridge projects across the state. During the event in Garhwa, the minister said the Centre has earmarked roughly Rs 2 lakh crore for overhauling Jharkhand’s road infrastructure. He announced that a Rs 12,800-crore Ranchi-Varanasi economic corridor is slated for completion by January 2028, while the larger Rs 36,000-crore Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata greenfield corridor is targeted for March 2028. According to Gadkari, the two corridors will cut travel times between eastern and northern India and support regional economic development.