Rs 99,728 cr road projects ready for states

The Rs 99,728-crore plan for building roads this fiscal by the Transport Ministry has set the ball rolling for a quantum jump in road network in the states.

The Ministry has set a target of constructing 1,100 km of road network in backward areas of Rajasthan entailing an expenditure to the tune of Rs 10,386 crore, as per an official document.

The projects includes construction of four-lane and six-lane highways on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

Insurgency-hit Jammu & Kashmir is set to see construction of 239 km of road network on annuity mode at a cost of Rs 9,629 crore, the work plan for the current fiscal mentions.

Coastal states of Kerala, Orissa and Maharashtra follow Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir in terms of investment envisaged in the current fiscal as the Ministry has plans for awarding Rs 8037 crore, Rs 7,963 crore and Rs 7,208 crore road projects in the states, respectively.

Among the rest of the states Tamil Nadu will see construction of 1,403 km of road network at a cost of Rs 7555 crore while West Bengal plans worth Rs 6,081 crore.

The states set to see investment in range of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 6,000 crore include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana, while the rest of the states will see projects less than Rs 4,000 crore each.

Of the Rs 99,728 crore plans for construction of 11,900 km of road network across the country, nine projects worth Rs 12,154 crore had already been awarded, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said.

"Another six projects worth Rs 8,600 crore for constructing 527 km of roads will be awarded in next two-three weeks' period," Nath said.

The Ministry plans adding 35,000 km of road network in the next five years and is targeting $100 billion investment in the road sector during the period, which includes $10 billion as foreign direct investment.