The Hindu : National : Six-laning of 6,500 km of NH cleared

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Friday, Oct 06, 2006
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Six-laning of 6,500 km of NH cleared

Special Correspondent

Public-private partnership programme on BOT model

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday cleared a Rs. 41,210-crore programme for converting 6,500 km of national highways from four to six lanes through public-private partnership based on the build-operate-transfer model.

The private sector would invest Rs. 35,692 crore towards the cost of construction and the Government provide Rs. 5,518 crore for land acquisition, utility shifting and consultancy fee. The Government's contribution would include viability gap funding up to 10 per cent, said Union Minister and Cabinet spokesperson P. Chidambaram.

Out of the 6,500 km of national highways to be expanded, 5,700 km would be under the golden quadrilateral programme. It was also decided to release 50,000 tonnes of maize at Rs. 450 a quintal for distribution as poultry feed in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Five lakh tonnes of maize was already allocated under the scheme to help poultry farmers get the feed at a reasonable price.

The CCEA approved a rehabilitation scheme for Eastern Coalfields Limited including infusion of Rs. 2,956 crore over 10 years from 2003-04 to 2012-13 from the internal resources of the company, waiver of unsecured loans amounting to Rs. 519 crore, and conversion of its current account balance of Rs. 1,532 crore by Coal India into equity share capital.

The Cabinet decided to create a post of chief executive on the National Fisheries Development Board in the pay scale of Rs. 22,400 to 26,000. The post, at the level of Additional Secretary in the Centre would be filled by a fisheries professional.

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