Gadkari: 18 NH projects underway in Telangana

26 new projects with a cost of Rs 6,400 cr are in conception stage

• Union Minister reels out details of project reports of various works
• An elevated road corridor to come up along Uppal-Ghatkesar section at a cost of Rs 800 cr
• Six-lane system on Aramgarh-Shamshabad section to be built at a cost Rs 300 cr
• A flyover at Amberpet in Hyderabad to be built at Rs 200 crore

Hyderabad: Congratulating the new state of Telangana on the occasion of its first Formation Day, Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said Telangana State has 18 on-going National Highway projects with an estimated cost of Rs 2590.20 crore, covering a length of 586 km, which are at various stages of progress.

As many as 26 new projects are in conception stage and they cover a length of 920 km at an estimated cost of Rs 6,400 crore. DPR (Detailed Project Report) is under preparation for four-laning of Sangareddy-Nanded section of NH-161 over a length of 140 km at an estimated cost of Rs.1500 crore.

DPR is also being readied for four-laning of Jagityal-Warangal section of NH-563 at a cost of Rs.1,250 crore. An elevated road corridor will be built along Uppal-Ghatkesar section of NH-163 at a cost of Rs.800 crore, Gadkari said.

DPR has been finalised for six-laning of Aramgarh-Shamshabad section of NH-44 covering a length of 10 km, at a cost of Rs.300 crore. A flyover will be built in Amberpet on NH-163 at an estimated cost of Rs. 200 crore, Gadkari said.

Dwelling on the achievements of Narendra Modi government in its one-year rule, Gadkari said the road length being laid per day has been increased from 2 km in UPA-II government to 14 km in the current NDA government, he said. After NDA came to power, 80 pending projects were approved and 44 projects were scrapped.

According to Gadkari, new road construction works for 8,000 km were awarded and the overall target is to construct 1 lakh km of roads in the first five years of Modi government. Apart from the one in Chennai, a new Maritime University will be set up in Ratnagiri of Maharashtra and course will be open to all Indians, he said.

Just like software professionals, the country has huge number of sea-farers equal to 6 lakh, and the qualifying course costs Rs. 10 lakh, he said. He said SC, ST and BC candidate studying flagship courses will be given a subsidy grant of Rs, 3 lakh and the rest of the money will be given as a loan.

He said ethanol, bio-diesel, CNG and electric buses will be encouraged as a matter of policy and added that bio-diesel is already available for Rs. 50 a litre in Kakinada and at Rs.46 in Haldia. Gadkari dismissed allegations that the Centre is snatching the powers of states through the new Raod Safety Bill, 2015. He claimed that 30 per cent of transport vehicle drivers do not have driving licences and this is the cause of huge number of accidents on highways.

He said the new Act will help reduce accidents and also bring in great transparency at the RTA (Regional Transport Authority) level. He said satellite technology will be used detect traffic violations and the violator will get challan regardless of who he was. Gadkari pleaded ignorance of the ongoing ACB case and related controversy involving TTDP legislator Revanth Reddy.