Nitin Gadkari lays foundation, inaugurates 14 NH projects in TS
The virtual event was attended by Union Ministers G Kishan Reddy and VK Singh along with TS Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Council chairman Gutha Sukhender Reddy, Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy
Hyderabad: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday inaugurated and laid foundation stone for 14 projects worth over Rs 13,169 crore in the State. These projects are for a length of 765.66 km of National Highways (NH). While the foundation stones were laid for eight NH projects covering a length of 396 km worth Rs 9,452 crore, six NH projects of 370 km length worth Rs 3,717 crore were dedicated to the nation.
The virtual event was attended by Union Ministers G Kishan Reddy and VK Singh along with Telangana Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Council chairman Gutha Sukhender Reddy, Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy, MPS and MLAs, in addition to senior officers from the Centre and the State.
Speaking on 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 all the districts in the State except Peddapalli, have connectivity with National Highways (NH) network and assured to connect Peddapalli with the network shortly.
Telangana witnessed a phenomenal growth of 55.71 per cent NH length in last six years, with nearly 1,400 km NH length newly added during this period. While construction of 841 km roads worth Rs 4,793 crore has been completed since 2014-15 in the State, work is going on for construction of another 809 km at a cost of Rs 13,012 crore.
“During the current financial year, 13 major projects costing Rs 8,957 crore of length 328 km are proposed to be granted in the State,” the Union Minister said. Three major projects for 192 km worth Rs 2,339 crore are under bidding. Another 21 NH works with total length of 1,422 km and total cost of Rs 27,116 crore are under various stages of DPR (detailed project report) preparation. They are likely to be completed by financial year 2024-25.
Further, 14 projects with length 1,730 km have been identified in Telangana State for development under Bharatmala Pariyojana. Of these, nine projects with length 423 km have already been awarded at a cost of Rs 7,400 crore.
“Development of greenfield and access-controlled corridor 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,” he added. These include Surat, Ahmadnagar, Solapur, Kurnool, Chennai (75 km length in Telangana), Suryapet – Khammam – Devarapalle (164 km length in Telangana) and Indore – Hyderabad (136 km length in Telangana).
Development of multiple wayside amenities are 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, it added.
Gadkari also 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 are available with the government. “The surplus crop may be converted to ethanol, which can be used as an alternative fuel for vehicles. This will not only improve farmers’ income, but will also be an indigenous source of fuels for the country,” he said.
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