The State Government has allocated Rs 65 crore to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for implementing the World Bank backed Rs 8,583-crore road infrastructure project.
Delivering a special address at the inaugural session of Suminfra, an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) along with the Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments, Principal Secretary of Highways and Minor Ports Rajeev Ranjan said that the DPR was still being prepared for the 1,678-km road development project across the State under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
The project is likely to be implemented from next year, said Ranjan.
The project is likely to be taken up in five packages. It involves financial strategies such as tolling of high-density traffic corridors and levy of cess on motor fuel and motor vehicle tax.
Ranjan said that the first phase of the Outer Ring Road project has been completed and the second phase of Outer Ring Road from Nemilicheri on NH 205 to Minjur on Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri-Panchetti section has started. The second phase of the ORR project costs `985.44 crore.
He said that the State government was planning to develop six lanes and eight lanes on the Oragadam industrial corridor.
S Krishnan, principal secretary, Planning and Development, said that the State’s target to attain $10,000 per capita income by 2023 was achievable. He said the target was not ambitious and the State had demonstrated that it could grow at two to three per cent above the national average.
He said that as per the Raghuram Rajan panel report, the State ranking had improved from fifth to third among the 28 States. “We don’t contest this part, but we are unhappy with other elements of the report. We are the only State that improved its ranking, from fifth to third,” said Krishnan.
He stressed the need to take advantage of the country’s demographic dividend which is favourable for the country and highlighted the role of the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board in identification and structuring of projects. He said the State had allocated `200 crore for the structuring of projects and `75 crore for preparation of projects.
Currently, the projects under preparation include LED bulbs for streetlights in seven circles across the State, besides sewage and tertiary treatment plants in Chennai and Thoothukudi.
Krishnan said that the Madurai-Thoothukudi corridor was at the advanced stage of development while stating that the State was not worried about temporary blips like the slowdown in growth rate.