Final approval for widening Shillong-Guwahati NH

In a major infrastructural development in North-East, the cabinet committee on infrastructure has accorded the final approval for four-laning of the national highway that connects Shillong with Guwahati.

The four-laning between Jorabat-Barapani section of NH-40 which is of 61.8 Km in length, and has been accorded on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis in BOT (Annuity) mode of delivery under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme-North East (SARDP-NE-Phase'A’), an official release stated.

Approval of actual variation to the cost of land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement and other pre-construction activities were granted.

The total project cost is estimated at Rs 762.30 crore. The concession period is 20 years including construction period of 3 years. NH-40 is the main artery connecting Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya and the states of Mizoram and Tripura with Guwahati, the gateway of North-East. The improvement of this NH to four-lane standard would surely bring in prosperity and development of the region.

The proposal for four-laning of Jorabat-Barapani (Shillong) section of NH-40 was earlier approved ‘in principle’ by the cabinet in September 2005. Subsequent approval for change of mode of funding for this stretch from BOT (Toll) to BOT (Annuity) was according in November 2006.