Kamal Nath promises 20 km roads daily by June

The ambitious target of building roads at the rate of 20 km a day will be achieved by June, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said today. He had earlier said this would be done by April.

“The target (of 20 km a day) will be achieved in June... We lost December and January due to dense fog; we are currently at 10 km per day,” Nath told said after a meeting with Turkish transport minister Binali Yildirim, who is on an official visit.

Soon after taking charge, Nath had set a target for increasing the pace of building highways from four km a day to 20 km a day.

But, in a recent communication, the Planning Commission termed the 20 km target unachievable, given the circumstances. It advised the ministry to fix reasonable targets.

Meanwhile, after a meeting between Indian and Turkish transport ministers, it was decided to set up a joint study group to explore cooperation in the road sector.

“We have decided to see where we can collaborate in terms of technology and best practices,” Nath said.

An official present at the meeting, who did not want to be identified, said the Turkish delegation was interested in taking on road projects here. Turkish companies had earlier built roads in the first phase of the Golden Quadrilateral project.