Highway projects worth Rs. 26,000 crore back on track

Highways ministry is planning to revive 34 highway projects across India worth Rs. 26,000 crore during their latest presentation on infrastructure targets.

Out of these, five projects will be handed over to state governments and the rest 18 will be taken care of in EPC mode. Ministry can sanction up to Rs. 1,000 crore in EPC mode without the approval of cabinet and a new plan to divide projects into smaller projects is being made.

The prime minister wants to encourage construction of 8,500 km of highways by the end of March 2015 against the previous governments target of 9,638 km out of which only 3,169 km were built.

Almost 189 projects worth Rs. 1,80,000 crore are stuck due to problems relating to land acquisition, forest and environmental clearances etc.

The government now wants to act upon swiftly and work for a better road infrastructure across the country.

Source – ET Auto