Himachal Pradesh to propose Rs 1,200 crore road shelf project to Centre

Himachal Pradesh government on Sunday announced that it will submit a proposal for a Rs 1,200 crore road shelf project to the Centre.

The proposal will be submitted to the National Rural Road Development Agency and the Union Ministry of Rural Development for approval, Chief Secretary V C Pharka said after presiding a meeting of the State Level Standing Committee (SLSC) on Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana here.

"This shelf comprises 318 road projects, including 16 bridges, of a total length of 1,874 km. The cost of the project will be shared by the Centre and state in a 90:10 ratio," he said.

The Chief Secretary also laid stress on ensuring quality of construction of roads, particularly in tribal and hill areas.

He directed the Finance Department to release the share of the state as per new funding patterns.

"In the ongoing fiscal year against a total allocation of Rs 180 crore, the state has received Rs 97 crore from the Centre. Against it an expenditure of Rs 143 crore has been made and the department expects to spend over Rs 350 crore by the end of this fiscal," Parkha said.

He informed that the union ministry had taken a decision to complete the connectivity of remaining habitats under the PMGSY by March 2019 against an earlier target year of 2022.

"The state government is committed to provide connectivity to all eligible habitations, provided land is donated by people," Parkha added.

"In the last 15 years the Ministry of Rural Development has sanctioned 14,651 km of roads to connect 3,734 habitats with population of more than 250 people," Additional Chief Secretary (Public Works) Narendra Chauhan said.

Out of the sanctioned, the state has completed 11,732 km of roads and has provided connectivity to 3,415 habitations, he added.

"Thus we have achieved 81 per cent physical and 69 per cent financial targets," Chauhan said.