Over Rs 3.35 lakh cr needed for national expressway project

The government's ambitious plan to build a 18,650-km-long national expressway network could involve a minimum investment of Rs Rs 3.35 lakh crore, according to the draft master plan report presented to the government.

"The master plan presented to the transport ministry today by the official consultants suggests building 18,637 km of expressways instead of 15,600 km proposed in July this year, after consultations with various stakeholders and state governments," an industry source has said.

Building expressways would cost Rs 18 crore per km for a four-lane project and Rs 25.5 crore per km for a six-lane project, which is between 2-10 times more compared to the investment required for a km of the NH, said sources quoting the master plan prepared by Craphts Consultants India.

The cost per km for developing a typical national highway ranges from Rs 2.5-9 crore at present.

The minimum project cost would come to Rs 3.35 lakh crore even if only 4-lane expressways are built. "This does not include land acquisition costs," the source said quoting the report.

The ministry had appointed Craphts Consultants last December to prepare a master plan for the proposed national expressways network which had submitted the draft report in July this year.

In August, the ministry solicited comments from the states on the same and the final report on the master plan report. The final draft report has now been submitted to the ministry after incorporating the views of the states and other stakeholders.