Coimbatore, July 01: Tamil Nadu was doing well as far as the road sector and the density of national highways were concerned, union minister of road transport and highways, B C Khanduri said today. Compared to the national average of 7.62 km in density of national highways in geographical area, Tamil Nadu has 29.6 km roads per 1000 sq.km. The state has 6.2 km road for a one lakh population, as against the national average of 5.7 km, Khanduri told reporters here.
"The road sector is doing well and lots of works are going on in Tamil Nadu," Khanduri, who was here on his way to Palani to declare open construction of the bypass on NH 209, said.
Stating that Tamil Nadu had 1,594 km of the 14,000 km national highway project, to be converted into four or six lanes, he said that work was in progress on 400 km, with the cost being Rs three crore to five crore per km.
With 3,857 km of highways in Tamil Nadu out of a total of 58,112 km of national highways, the NDA government had added 1870 km during its four year rule, compared to 2032 km from 1947-98, Khanduri claimed.
Moreover, the ministry was spending Rs 1.25 crore per km of state highway in Tamil Nadu, he said.
The Centre had sanctioned Rs 225 crore to Tamil Nadu for development of rural roads during the last four years, he added.
Bureau Report