Assam: Centre, State to Share Land Acquisition Cost for Guwahati Ring Road

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The cost of land acquisition for the proposed Guwahati Ring Road project will be shared by the central government and state government on a 50:50 basis. The state government will also exempt the forest royalty for forest products to be used in the project.

The central government has also taken the decision to construct the ring road as early as possible, and the bidding process has already started.

According to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), there is a need to acquire a large area of private land for the Ring Road Project, and it has been estimated that around Rs 1400 crore will be required for payment of compensation to the owners of the land. As it is considered a mega project of the Centre, the land compensation money would be borne by both the central and state governments equally.

Forest materials are a state subject, and when forest products are used in any infrastructure project, the state government generally gets the forest royalty. But in this case, the project being a mega one and a lot of money needs to be invested by the central government, the state government has decided to exempt the project from forest royalty. Forest products like sand, stone, etc. are to be used in the construction of the project. In this regard, an MoU has been inked by the state government and NHAI.

The 4-Lane Northern Guwahati Bypass and Widening/Improvement of Existing Guwahati Bypass for the 121-km Guwahati Ring Road will be developed in a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) mode at a total capital cost of Rs. 5,729 crore in three sections: (i) 4-lane access-controlled Northern Guwahati Bypass (56 km), (ii) widening of the existing 4-lane bypass on NH 27 to 6 lanes (8 km), and (iii) improvement of existing bypass on NH 27 (58 km).

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) accorded approval for the project in August 2024.

Also Read: Assam: Union Minister Harsh Malhotra Reviews Guwahati Ring Road Project (sentinelassam.com)

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