New Delhi : Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath today said the government is targeting building 7000 kms of road in a year, which is estimated to cost Rs 42,000 crore.

“We are looking at a target of 7,000 kms of roads across the country. (We will build) roads which are commensurate with the traffic, so the lanes that each road would be determined by the amount of traffic,” he told reporters after holding a meeting with the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

He said after consultation with the Commission it was decided that the lanes would be build as per traffic volume.

“We don’t want to underengineer or overengineer. In some areas where the traffic so demands, we will build six lanes, if the traffic so demands there will be two lanes, where the traffic so demands there will be four lanes. So the thumb rule is what the traffic can bear or what traffic demands,”he said.

He said with the estimated cost for building each kilometre would be Rs 6 crore, thus the total expenditure is envisaged at Rs 42,000 crore per annum for the next five years.

“I think the Minister has put forward an ambitious programme which I think he can achieve. We will support him in trying to do that. So basically it is a question of rolling out a well structured programme with a lot of emphasis on BOT-Toll route as first priority and if that is not feasible then we will try quickly to move to other appropriate alternatives,” Mr. Ahluwalia said.

Earlier, Nath said the first priority would be building roads on BOT (build-operate-transfer) toll basis.

Under BOT-TOll system, the contractor who builds roads collects toll from the vehicles for a specified period.

“In some areas there may be 70 per cent (of the total road) is tollable. In some areas 30 per cent. We want to ensure that first we want to look at the tollable aspect,” Mr. Nath said.

He will also try to resolve the problems faced by the contractors, he said, adding “We have also looked at certain issues which the contractors have brought out which are practical. We will solve them. We want to ensure that we are increasing the number of contractors in the country”.

When asked if he is pressing for a hike in cess on petrol and diesel for road construction, Mr. Nath said, “This is something which the Finance Ministry will look at when there is need. When the government’s intention is to build roads we will have to find new and innovative ways of financing it”.

On the obstacles impeding the building of roads in India, he said land acquisition is the biggest problem. “One of the biggest challenges is land acquisition,” he said adding, he held talks with several States to solve the issues.

Add to Favourite:

EMail This Post

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Entry Filed under: Delhi