Centre to invest Rs 15k cr to develop 1,253 km road in Assam as NH: Gadkari

The minister said the Centre has already sanctioned an investment of Rs 15,000 crores

The Centre will invest Rs 15,000 crores to develop 1,253 kilometres of roads in Assam into National Highways over the next few years, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday.

"When Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal met me, he demanded to declare 1,253 kilometres of state roads as National Highways. Today I am declaring that those will be developed as NHs," he said in Guwahati.

Inaugurating the second road bridge over Brahmaputra here, the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister said the Centre has already sanctioned an investment of Rs 15,000 crores for developing the existing roads as NHs.

"I have ordered to prepare the DPR (Detailed Project Report) and it will be over soon. I hope the CM will initiate land acquisition process soon. As soon as the state government gives us the land and forest clearances, we will start the work immediately," he said.

Gadkari said the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) will spend Rs 8,000 crores over the next two years for developing 143 kilometres of road, including a few bridges over Brahmaputra.

"The work on preparing the DPR for the bridge connecting Sonowal's constituency Majuli has already started. I have asked the officials to make a light weight and cost-effective bridge there," he said.