Highway projects: Centre shows discrimination against Telangana

Centre had announced 71 highway projects in Telangana at a cost of Rs 37,069 crore, only Rs 2,580 crore has been spent so far

Hyderabad: Though the Centre had announced 71 highway projects in Telangana at a cost of Rs 37,069 crore, only Rs 2,580 crore has been spent so far.

This was revealed by union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in the Parliament on Thursday. In response to a question, he said the Central government had embarked on a mission to improve road infrastructure, facilitating smoother travel between Telangana and neighboring states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.

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Telangana was the recipient of 71 projects, with a total sanctioned cost of Rs 37,069 crore, encompassing a length of 1,958 km. However, as of June 30 this year, only Rs 2,580 crore have been spent for these projects, he said.

At the same time, in the neighboring Andhra Pradesh, the union government sanctioned 96 projects, amounting to Rs 37,220 crore, spanning a length of 2,586 km. The expenditure incurred on these projects stands at Rs 5,736 crore. Further, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu have also received their share of National Highway developments, based on factors like detailed project reports (DPRs), traffic volume, priority, and resource availability.

LPG Subsidy witnessed steep decline

Responding to another question, union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli admitted that subsidy allocations for LPG have witnessed a significant downward trend over the past decade. The figures reveal that the financial year 2012-13 marked the peak with a substantial Rs 41,565 crore allocated for LPG subsidies, but since then, the numbers have been on a consistent decline. In the current financial year 2022-23, the projected subsidy stands at Rs 6,965 crore, the lowest in recent times. The data also indicates that the government has been successfully curbing subsidy outlays.