The Indian Government is taking up road projects valued worth more than Rs500bn ($7.4bn) in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
These projects include an outer ring road (ORR) at Vijayawada, where the state’s new capital city would be located. The ORR would be an eight-lane highway and run for 180km. It will be built at a tentative cost of Rs200bn ($2.9bn).
This was announced by the country’s Union Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari during the foundation stone ceremony of a six-lane flyover at Kanaka Durga temple.
“Under the new road scheme, 392km of national highways would come up in the state.”
According to Gadkari, under the new road scheme, 392km of national highways would come up in the state, which are in addition to existing road projects worth more than Rs150bn ($2.2bn).
The state government intends to construct a new road on the state’s sea coast, from Ichapuram to Tada, running parallel to the Kolkata – Chennai National Highway.
Last month, the Indian Government had ordered the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to compensate developers for delays in road projects not attributable to them, which was expected to benefit 34 stalled projects of around 3,500km.
This decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), which was chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi.
In a statement, the government had said: “The CCEA has given its approval for authorising National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to allow extension of concession period for all current projects in BOT (toll) mode that are languishing during the construction period due to causes not attributable to the concessionaire.”
The decision was expected to unlock investments worth $350bn ($5.2bn). Many of these projects have been stalled because of government clearances for land acquisition and environmental approvals.