Govt sanctions four national highway projects worth Rs 4,500 crore

The projects announced by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari pertain to the construction, widening, and upgrade of national highways in Assam, Telangana, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh

The government has sanctioned four road infrastructure projects worth Rs 4,518.04 crore, including two highways under the Bharatmala project, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.

The approved projects pertain to the construction, widening and upgradation of national highways in Assam, Telangana, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The four-laning of NH-71 from Madanapalle to Pileru in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh under Bharatmala Pariyojna has been sanctioned with a budget of Rs 1,852.12 crore, the minister of road transport and highways said in a social media post.

Last week, Gadkari had met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to review the status of national highway projects in the state.

Gadkari also announced the construction of a 6-lane, access-controlled greenfield highway section of NH-150C between Karnataka and Telangana at an estimated cost of Rs 972.06 crore. In October, National Highways Authority of India had floated a tender for the project as part of the Solapur-Kurnool-Chennai Economic Corridor.

The Bharatmala project is an umbrella scheme of the road transport and highways ministry, designed to optimise freight and passenger traffic across the country. In the first phase, the government intends to complete the development of 34,800 kms of economic corridors, port connectivity roads, and border and international connectivity roads, among others.

The government, till December, had awarded projects worth Rs 5.60 trillion under the first phase of Bharatmala project. The awarded projects cover 19,265 kms, while development of 6,750 kms of projects had been completed, Gadkari had told Rajya Sabha in a written reply in December.

The government also sanctioned two national highway projects worth Rs 1,694 crore in Assam, which includes four-lane construction and upgradation of NH-127B at an estimated cost of Rs 1,522.91 crore.

At a public event in Manipur on Monday, Gadkari said the government was committed to road infrastructure development in the northeast. He said several of the projects that had been announced earlier would be awarded within the next three months.

The government, in the Union Budget for 2022-23, set an ambitious target of expanding the national highway network by 25,000 kms over the fiscal year. The budgetary allocation of the road transport and highways ministry has been increased by 68 per cent to Rs 1.99 trillion.