Rs 7 lakh crore project approved for highway development

NEW DELHI: The government on 24^th October approved the biggest highway construction plan so far in the country. The project would develop approximately 83,677 km of roads at an investment of Rs 6.92 lakh crore by 2022. The project is aimed at pushing economic activity across the country. It is likely to generate at least 32 crore man days in the next five years. It focuses on improving the speed of traffic flow on the key corridors by providing uniform four-lane roads. For faster movement of cargo vehicles, most of these corridors will be shorter and access-controlled.

The programme includes one of central governments flagship schemes, the Bharatmala project under which 34,800 km of highways would be constructed at the cost of Rs 5.35 lakh crore. Apart from highways, the road transport and highways ministry will construct 9,000 km of economic corridors across the country under the Bharatmala scheme.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the government has consistently increased public expenditure on infrastructure in order to boost employment and that it was a step forward to the government’s commitment towards providing more efficient transportation.

The project would also involve constructing 6,000 km long inter corridor and feeder routes, 2,000 km of the border and international connectivity roads, 5,000 km to be upgraded under the national corridor efficiency programme, 800 km of greenfield expressways, 10,000 km under the national highway development programme and 2,000 km of coastal and port connectivity roads.

“The new highway development programme is both building roads and improving mobility to reduce logistics cost. Better road network and rolling out of smart-tag based tolling will transform the road transport sector”, said an official regulating the plan.

 

FUNDS

The project involves a total expenditure of 6.92 lakh crores. Finance secretary Ashok Lavasa said that the government is looking to raise almost half the money from the market and private investments. The rest is would come from the Central Road Fund, highway toll and monetising completed highway stretch. Economists are, on the other hand, doubtful of the state’s capacity to spend for the project. Ila Patnaik, professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy said, “My first concern is the government’s ability to give out contracts and build the highway. If the past is an indicator, the state capacity to spend on public investment is limited”

 

Work in action

Work for the highway projects has been assigned to the National Highways and Industrial Development Corporation (NHIDCL) and state public work departments. “These organisations would be given sufficient delegation of powers so that there’s speedy implementation,” said Ashok Lavasa.

The National Highway Authority of India has effectively prepared detailed project reports (DPRs) for about 10,000 km of the identified network, which will help faster implementation of the plan.