Nitin Gadkari Launches 14 National Highway Projects Worth Over Rs 13,000 Crore In Telangana

In a major boost to transportation and connectivity, foundation for 14 Nation Highway projects in Telangana worth over Rs 13,000 crore was laid by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari through virtual mode.

These projects include 765.663 km long roads worth Rs 13,169 crore are expected to ensure that almost all of the 33 districts in the state have now connectivity with National Highways.

Speaking at the occasion, Gadkari informed that a total of 59 road works with approved length of 1,918 km and a cost of Rs 17,617 crore have been sanctioned in Telangana in the last six years.

Of this, 1,782 km length has already been sanctioned with a cost of Rs 15,689 crore.

He said, the remaining district Peddapalli will also be connected to the network soon and added there has been a phenomenal growth of 55.71 per cent National Highway length in the last six years in the state with nearly 1,400 km National Highway length having been added during this period.

Under the CRIF scheme, a sum of Rs 2,436 crore has been sanctioned till now for the state, of which Rs 1,483 crore have already been released.

Gadkari informed that while construction of 841 km roads worth Rs 4,793 crore has been completed since 2014-15 in Telangana, work is going on for construction of another 809 km at a cost of Rs 13,012 crore.

He added that during the current financial year, 13 major projects costing Rs 8,957 crore and of length 328 km are proposed to be awarded in the state.

Three major projects for 192 km worth Rs 2,339 crore are under bidding, he said. Another 21 National Highway works with a total length of 1,422 km and total cost of Rs 27,116 crore are under various stages of DPR preparation. These works are likely to be completed by the fiscal 2024-25.

The minister said that in line with the Prime Minister’s vision for a New India, development of world-class transport infrastructure has been prioritised, through initiatives such as the Bharatmala Pariyojana, India’s largest ever infrastructure development programme.

The Pariyojana was conceptualised through a scientific study of freight traffic movement between key origin-destination pairs to enable efficient freight and passenger movement.

Projects with length 1,730 km have been identified for development under Bharatmala Pariyojana in Telangana. Out of these 14 projects, nine with length 423 km have already been awarded at a cost of Rs 7,400 crore.

Development of greenfield and access-controlled corridors has also been planned in Telangana to ease-out traffic on existing corridors, reduce travel time and costs and also provide a boost to the economy.

These projects include Surat-Ahmednagar-Solapur-Kurnool-Chennai (75 km length in Telangana), Suryapet-Khammam-Devarapalli (164 km length in Telangana) and Indore-Hyderabad (136 km length in Telangana).

While development of these corridors will ease the traffic on existing routes, it will also lead to improved savings, due to reduced travel time and fuel consumption thereby also reducing the carbon footprint.

Development of multiple wayside amenities is also being planned across the corridors to improve rider comfort.

The corridors have been planned as fully access-controlled leading to enhanced rider mobility and safety. Development of these corridors would also generate both white-collar and blue-collar jobs thereby also providing the much-needed boost to the economy.

Gadkari called upon the state to take up diversification of agriculture into economic productivity. He said, the country is already over-producing sugar and rice, and sufficient stock is available with the government.

The surplus may be converted to ethanol, which can be used as an alternative fuel for vehicles. He said, this will not only improve farmers' income, but will also be an indigenous source of fuels for the country.