Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announces projects worth Rs 1.6 lakh crore for Northeast

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: After reviewing all road and infrastructure projects under the Road Transport & Highways Ministry that are currently underway in the Northeastern states during his three-day visit to Guwahati, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday announced that projects worth around Rs 3 lakh crore are in various stages of completion in the region. He further announced new projects worth Rs 1.6 lakh crore for the Northeastern states.

The target for completing these projects is 2024.

Briefing the media, Gadkari announced new projects worth Rs 46,200 crore for Assam. These projects include construction of 1,020-km of National Highway and bridges, five ropeways and ten road overbridges. Regarding the ongoing road projects in the state, the Union Minister said that 1,113 km of highway has been completed so far at a cost of Rs 5,890 crore, while 632 km of highway is under construction.

Gadkari also announced projects worth Rs 12,575 crore for Meghalaya, projects worth Rs 4,921 crore for Nagaland, projects worth Rs 45,839 crore for Arunachal Pradesh, projects worth Rs 16,639 crore for Manipur, projects worth Rs 8,614 crore for Mizoram, projects worth Rs 13,353 crore for Tripura and projects worth Rs 5,070 crore for Sikkim.

According to the Union Road Transport & Highways Minister, certain conditions have been laid down for the state governments concerned to fulfil before construction work starts. These include clearing and handing over of 90 per cent of the required land for each project, obtaining of forest clearance and removing of utility service infrastructure such as electric posts, water pipes etc from the project sites.

Gadkari said that after reviewing all projects, he has informed the state governments that while the Union Road Transport & Highways Ministry will resolve problems under its purview, they will also have to remove bottlenecks at their end.

He stressed that quality of work, time-bound completion and performance audit are the three requirements for successful implementation of any project. He added that he is happy with Assam's performance in this regard so far.

Gadkari informed that apart from roads, the Union Road Transport & Highways Ministry will also set up roadside amenity infrastructure at 50 places in the North-East, along with 50 viewpoints alongside the highway for tourists and five multi-model logistic parks. He said that the Union Road Transport & Highways Ministry will also set up airport-like 'busports' in the North-East if the state governments concerned can provide the required land.

All these projects are aimed at ensuring the overall development of the North-East, Gadkari said, adding that the Centre will take up more projects worth around Rs 2 lakh crore after 2024.

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