The Central Government had approved a total of four highway projects in Chhattisgarh with total road length measuring 60.36 km with an outlay of `161.68 cr during the last one year, officials stated.
Most of these projects are proposed to be implemented under Engineering, Procurement Construction (EPC) mode. The scheduled completion time of these projects generally varies from 24 to 36 months.
The maximum number of highway projects were approved in Uttar Pradesh at 13.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh Road Development Corporation (CGRDC) has identified 61 different projects for construction of roads.
Out of 61 roads, 56 Roads covering length of 1859.25 kms have been identified for development under Hybrid Annuity Model and 5 roads under (BoT) Toll mode, officials stated. Notably, CGRDC will be using both web and mobile based 'Project Management System'.
The project is part of the Integrated Project Management System (IPMS) to monitor road development projects in the State, officials stated.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh Government has adopted Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for development of roads in the State.
The State Government is planning to construct roads measuring 13,000 km with an investment of ` 42,000 crore over the next three years. The budget allocation during 2016-17 for this is a massive Rs 6,101 crore, representing an increase of 56% over the preceding year.
Notably, a total of 12 roads have been marked under Chhattisgarh State Road Development Project, out of which work on developing six roads has already been started, officials stated.
This year, 3724 kms of roads have been built and upgraded and construction of 41 bridges has been completed. Construction of 123 bridges is in progress.
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has approved ` 3,300 crore for broadening and upgradation of the National Highways in Chhattisgarh.
Notably in July last year, the Central government had also announced that it would award contracts for three key road projects in Chhattisgarh measuring 149 kms to be developed at an estimated cost of ` 3,522 crores this year, officials stated.
It is targetted to award 273 road projects in the country covering a length of approximately 12,900 km amounting to about ` 1,26,700 crore during 2015-16 under various schemes of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, officials had stated.
The Central government had also sanctioned an amount of ` 305.56 crore for 10 important works under Central Road Fund Scheme during 2015-16 in Chhattisgarh, officials stated.
These 10 works include construction of one road route, two Railway over-bridges and under-bridges, one fly-over and bridge. The NHAI had acquired 16 hectares of land till June 2015 for the development of various road projects in the State, officials stated.
Notably, new stretches of rural roads are rapidly coming up in Chhattisgarh with massive funding support from ADB, officials stated.
The ADB has provided lending support to Chhattisgarh for projects undertaken under Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The international funding agency had been helping to either construct or upgrade 31,000 kms of rural roads in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradsh, Odisha, West Bengal and Assam nationally, officials stated.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh Government has already started taking steps to even settle the forest land disputes under the Forest Protection Act 1980 as early as possible for accelerating the process of laying of roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) (Prime Minister's Rural Roads Project), officials stated.
A time-bound action plan has been chalked out for various departments to settle the issues relating to forest land expeditiously, officials stated.