NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to double the grant to the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) to Rs 2,000 crore to enable it to speed up construction work in the northern (Jammu and Kashmir) and eastern (Northeast) regions of the country.
“Recently, the minister revised the targets of road and highway construction and it was found that the two regions were lagging. To speed up the work, NHIDCL’s grant has been increased from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,000 crore for the current financial year,” a ministry official said.
Officials attribute the slow progress of work to the bad terrain in the region. “It (N-E) is a very difficult terrain to undertake construction. Also, there is a lot of tension in the region. Same is the case with Jammu and Kashmir,” the official said.
The additional amount would be used to build roads and bridges, national highways and for the special accelerated road development programme in the Northeast.
“With this fund, we can hire more technical expertise and speed up the construction and upkeep of roads in the two regions,” the official said.
The entire fund would not be used for the eastern and northern regions, the official added “We will use the fund to maintain the roads in other parts of the country as well,” he said.