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Full steam ahead for Golden Quadrilateral: The Pioneer
New Delhi, Sept 25: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has identified seven new road projects that will link five state capitals to the Golden Quadrilateral road project by 2007.
New Delhi, Sept 25: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has identified seven new road projects that will link five state capitals to the Golden Quadrilateral road project by 2007.
"As part of the 10,000 kms of highways to be four-lane as announced in Budget 2003, bids for 622 kms in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will be invited this year," Roads and Highways Minister B C Khanduri told reporters on Wednesday.
Another 1,500 km of highways in the North-Eastern states may also be identified and finalised this year, the minister added. "We are examining another 1,500 kms of existing roads in the North East, including Meghalaya and Mizoram," he said. "Since the North-Eastern states have often complained of lagging behind in infrastructure and because they have expressed a desire for better connectivity, we will focus as much as possible on these states," Mr Khanduri said.
The 10,000 km announced by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh in Budget 2003 are in addition to the 4,846-km Golden Quadrilateral linking four metros and the 7,300-km North-South East-West corridors, part of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP). The present 622 km stretches, with a estimated project cost of Rs 2,500 crore, are build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects, A total of 98 applicants, including 14 Indian-foreign and Indian-Indian joint venture companies have expressed their interest in their construction and 20 have been declared qualified by the Ministry. "We have decided to let the contractor decide whether he will build a concrete road or bituminous road, depending on the costs involved and the feasibility of different materials in each of the stretches," Mr Khanduri told The Pioneer. The quality-related specifications for each kind of road, however, will be defined and set by the MInistry, he said. The completion target for all stretches under the 10,000-km Budget announcement is December 2007 and states including Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Haryana/Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Pondicherry, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttaranchal will be covered under it.
Another 1,500 km of highways in the North-Eastern states may also be identified and finalised this year, the minister added. "We are examining another 1,500 kms of existing roads in the North East, including Meghalaya and Mizoram," he said. "Since the North-Eastern states have often complained of lagging behind in infrastructure and because they have expressed a desire for better connectivity, we will focus as much as possible on these states," Mr Khanduri said.
The 10,000 km announced by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh in Budget 2003 are in addition to the 4,846-km Golden Quadrilateral linking four metros and the 7,300-km North-South East-West corridors, part of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP). The present 622 km stretches, with a estimated project cost of Rs 2,500 crore, are build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects, A total of 98 applicants, including 14 Indian-foreign and Indian-Indian joint venture companies have expressed their interest in their construction and 20 have been declared qualified by the Ministry. "We have decided to let the contractor decide whether he will build a concrete road or bituminous road, depending on the costs involved and the feasibility of different materials in each of the stretches," Mr Khanduri told The Pioneer. The quality-related specifications for each kind of road, however, will be defined and set by the MInistry, he said. The completion target for all stretches under the 10,000-km Budget announcement is December 2007 and states including Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Haryana/Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Pondicherry, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttaranchal will be covered under it.