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Budget : hike in outlay for national highways

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: With the focus on creation of physical infrastructure to meet the challenges of globalisation,

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has increased the budgetary support for the National Highways Development Programme from Rs. 9,230 crore to Rs. 9,945 crore.

Presenting the budget for 2006-07, Mr. Chidambaram on Tuesday said the Government had decided to develop 1,000 km of access-controlled expressways. "These will be on new alignment and built on the Design, Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) model." The sections identified were: Vadodara-Mumbai, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Meerut, Delhi-Agra, Bangalore-Chennai and Kolkata-Dhandbad. The concessionaires would be selected through an international competitive bidding progress.

The Government would restructure the National Highway Authority of India to make it more effective. It would be turned into a multi-disciplinary body with a capacity to handle a large number of PPP projects. Also, new skill areas in planning and quality assurance, standardisation, arbitration, road safety and R and D would be created.

Golden Quadrilateral

Work was on at "full steam" on the Golden Quadrilateral and the North-South, East-West Corridors.

The projects were progressing at the rate of 4.48 km per day against 1.86 km per day in May 2004. Ninety-six per cent of the GQ would be completed by June 2006. The deadline for completing the `Corridors' was 2008. There was substantial and visible progress in improving ports, airports and rural roads.

Claiming that the highest-ever number and value of contracts were awarded in 2005 in relation to NHDP, Mr. Chidambaram said a special accelerated road development programme for the North-East at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,618 had been approved and Rs. 550 crore provided for it in the present budget.

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Budget : hike in outlay for national highways

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