Projects worth Rs 40,000 crore upcoming in Assam: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

‘Foundations of Guwahati Ring Road and elevated corridor over KNP by January’

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that in Assam, as many as 64 projects costing Rs 37,700 crore are going on, 136 projects costing Rs 12,164 crore have been completed in the past ten years, and 48 projects costing Rs 40,836 crore have been taken up. The Union Ministry has sanctioned Rs 90,700 crore for infrastructure projects in Assam, he said.

For the past two days, Gadkari has been reviewing the infrastructure projects in the north-eastern states. Today, he reviewed the projects in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur. During the review of the projects, it came to light that delays in forest clearance, handing over land to the construction companies, and clearance from the railways have led to delays in the execution of the projects in the region.

Gadkari said, “Assam has almost cleared all issues related to land acquisitions. However, Nagaland and Meghalaya still have a lot of land-related issues to clear. We have asked the district authorities of these two states to make the land acquisition process transparent; otherwise, we will halt project work.”

He said, “We will lay the foundation stones for two major projects in Assam by January next year. The two road projects are the Guwahati Ring Road connecting Baihata Chariali-Kuruwa-Chandrapur-Sonapur and an elevated corridor over Kaziranga National Park. We have entrusted the Louis Berger Group to prepare the projection report of the Numaligarh-Gohpur tunnel under the Brahmaputra”.

Gadkari announced the sanction of Rs 600 crore under the Central Road Fund and Rs 200 crore under the Setu Bandhan Scheme for Assam. He said that projects worth Rs 2.89 lakh crore have been given to the Northeast in the past ten years. “These comprise upcoming, ongoing, and completed projects,” he said. Laying stress on the development of infrastructure in the Northeast, he said, “If infrastructure is good, industry, trade, and agriculture will prosper”.

Mentioning the potential of bamboo industries in the Northeast, he said, “We can replace iron barriers on either side of roads with bamboo barriers. This is in practice in Chhattisgarh. Incense sticks made of bamboo have high demand in the market”. Gadkari requested that the chief ministers of the northeastern states explore the utility of products based on bamboo, ethanol, methanol, etc. that can be more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

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