Odisha to spend Rs 15000 cr on road projects in five years

During 2010 to 2013, the state has invested around Rs 1500 to 2000 cr annually for development of the major road networks

The state government plans to invest Rs 15000 crore for development of major road networks in the state and has sought consultative assistance from World Bank in this regard.

"Around Rs 15000 crore will be spent over next 5 years for development of the major road networks (State Highways, district and other roads," wrote Jayashree Tripathy, deputy secretary, state finance department to the Union finance ministry, outlining the need to get World Bank grant for fruition of the plan.

The letter said, "during 2010 to 2013, the state has invested around Rs 1500 to 2000 crore annually for development of the major road networks."

Currently the road projects are being managed by state public works department. But the state government said, in most projects the progress of the road building work has been unsatisfactory due to improper management. "The implementation of other road projects remains unsatisfactory on many fronts. Analysis of various project durations, cost and duality factors demonstrate that over 80% of the projects are severely lagging behind the schedule," the finance department official said.

However, she admitted that there are other issues which also contribute to delay in implementation of the construction work of roads. Issues like shifting of utility services, eviction of encroachment, acquisition of land, forest clearance, tree cutting permission, quarry permission, blasting permission and maoist threats and bandh calls in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts also contribute to the delay in execution of projects.

As Odisha is steadily progressing towards industrialisation and urbanisation, the letter said, the state needs technical assistance from World Bank under RIDF (rural infrastructure development fund) to implement the road projects.

"Stakes are higher in the road sector and so the road projects need to be carefully and suitably administered for efficient project management. Hence it underscores the need for technical assistance on designing of project report, procurement of works, goods and services and contract management procedures," it said.

Construction of road projects has been on the priority list of the government. In the current fiscal, it announced plans to improve conditions of 2,158 Km State Highways at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore in four years. For the first phase, 381 km road projects involving a cost of around Rs 633 crore have been put to tender. World Bank is a key sponsor of the scheme.

Under the plan, the government aims to double lane all the State Highways within 12th Five Year Plan that ends in 2017.