The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways allocated Rs 1,533.68 crores to Chhattisgarh for development of national highways during the current financial year, the Central Government has informed.
A total of Rs 895.63 crore had already been spent so far for development of national highways in the State, it informed.
During the last financial year, a total of Rs 359.94 crore was allocated out of which 339.80 crore was spent for the development of national highways in Chhattisgarh.
Chhattisgarh is also all set to get new national highways (NHs) with roads totalling length of 1367 kms, inform officials.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has assured of initiating necessary steps in this direction, they informed.
The assurance came during a meeting held between Chhattisgarh Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Rajesh Munat and Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi recently.
Munat had informed the Union Minister that in February this year the latter had announced of constructing new highway of 1285 km in Chhattisgarh.
As per the present requirement of the State, a proposal for sanctioning of additional 1367 kms highways has been sent to the Ministry, he aid.
Over the Raipur-Dhmatari Highway development issue, the Union Minister directed the concerned officers to float tenders within a week.
Munat also requested Gadkari for establishing the Regional Office of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Raipur.
The Central government had approved a total of four highway projects in Chhattisgarh with total road length measuring 60.36 kms with an outlay of Rs 161.68 crores 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 (B0T) Toll mode, 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 Rs 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.
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 Rs 3,522 crores this year, officials stated.
The Central Government had also sanctioned an amount of Rs 305.56 crore for 10 important works under Central Road Fund Scheme during 2015-16 in Chhattisgarh, officials stated.