National highways (NH) will be expanded by 25,000 kilometre (km) during 2022-23 and the national ropeway development programme will be taken up in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said tabling the Union Budget.
“The national highways network will be expanded by 25,000 km in 2022-23 besides PM Gati Shakti Master Plan for Expressways will be formulated in next fiscal to facilitate the faster movement of people and goods,” the FM said.
Sitharaman also announced contracts for the implementation of multimodal logistics parks at four locations through the PPP mode will be awarded in 2022-23.
The Minister said that as a preferred ecologically sustainable alternative to conventional roads in difficult hilly areas, the national ropeways development programme will be taken up on the PPP mode.
She added the aim is to improve connectivity and convenience for commuters, besides promoting tourism.
She informed Parliament that the contracts for eight ropeway projects for a length of 60 km will be awarded in 2022-23. The Finance Minister said Rs 20,000 crore will be mobilised through innovative ways of financing to complement the public resources.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Budget has given priority to the infrastructure sector and noted that the national ropeways development programme will benefit North East, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Kashmir.
The Budget outlay for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has risen 68.5 per cent to Rs 1.99 trillion (from Rs 1.18 trillion in FY22). The Center’s road-making agency National Highways Authority of India’s budgetary outlay in the coming fiscal is set to rise by 133 per cent to Rs 1.34 trillion from Rs 573.50 billion in FY22.
Allocations to the Government’s flagship scheme for rural roads -- the Gram Sadak Yojana -- have risen to Rs 19,000 crore in FY23, from Rs 15,000 crore in the FY22 Budget estimate.
Special focus in the PMGSY has been given to the construction of roads in left-wing extremist affected areas and north-eastern States, as the allocation to both these components of the rural roads construction schemes was substantially raised for the Budget 2022-23 presented by the Modi Government.