Nitin Gadkari inaugurates 14 National Highway projects in Telangana

Other projects include four-laning 99kms of Yadgiri-Warangal section of NH163 (old no. 202) under NHDP phase-IV to be executed under EPC mode, rehabilitation and upgrade of Hyderabad outer ring road to Medak section of NH-765D in Medak and Malkajgiri districts, four-laning of 58.626km of NH-365BB from Suryapet to Khammam, and four-laning of NH-161 from Kandi to Ramsanpall, among others.

Union ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Gen. Dr. V.K Singh, Telangana minister for roads and buildings Vemula Prashanth Reddy, Speaker of the Telangana Assembly Pocharam Srinivas Reddy attended the event.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Gadkari said 59 road works with approved length of 1,918 kms and a cost of Rs. 17,617 crores have been sanctioned in Telangana in the last six years. Of this, 1,782 kms have already been sanctioned with a cost of Rs. 15,689 crores.

"Almost all the 33 districts in the state today have connectivity with National Highways. The remaining district, Peddapalli, will also be connected to the network soon. There has been a phenomenal growth of 55.71 per cent NH length in the last six years in the state. Nearly 1,400 km of NH has been added during this period," he said. Under the CRIF scheme, a sum of Rs. 2,436 crores have been sanctioned till now to Telangana, of which Rs. 1,483 crores have already been released, Mr Gadkari added.

He said that while construction of 841 kms of roads worth Rs. 4,793 crores have been completed since 2014-15 in Telangana, work on another 809 kms at a cost of Rs. 13,012 crores is ongoing. During the current financial year, 13 major projects at a cost of Rs. 8,957 crores are proposed for the state while three major projects for 192 kms worth Rs. 2,339 crores are under bidding, he said, adding that 21 NH works of total length 1,422 kms and total cost Rs. 27,116 crores are under various stages of DPR preparation. These works are likely to be completed by fiscal 2024-25, the minister said.

Projects measuring 1,730 kms have been identified for development under Bharatmala Pariyojana in Telangana and of these 14 projects, nine with length 423 kms have already been awarded at a cost of Rs. 7,400 crores.

Development of greenfield and access-controlled corridor has also been planned for Telangana to ease traffic on existing corridors, reduce travel time and costs, and also boost the economy. These include: Surat, Ahmadnagar, Solapur, Kurnool, Chennai (75 km); Suryapet-Khammam-Devarapalle (164 km), and Indore-Hyderabad (136 km).

The minister further said that while development of these corridors will ease traffic on existing routes, it will also lead to improved savings due to reduced travel time and fuel consumption thereby also reducing the carbon footprint. Development of multiple wayside amenities are also being planned across the corridors to improve rider comfort and the corridors have been planned as fully access-controlled leading to enhanced rider mobility and safety, Mr. Gadkari said. The development of these corridors would also generate both white-collar and blue-collar jobs thereby also providing the much-needed boost to the economy, he added.