NEW DELHI: The government has sought a soft loan of Rs 15,000 crore from the Japanese International Cooperative Agency (JICA) for 10 greenfield highway projects in north eastern states.
“JICA has in principal agreed to fund these highway projects. The tripartite- appraisal document between the agencies of Indian government and JICA will be signed soon,” Anand Kumar, managing director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (HIDCL) said.
Out of Rs 15,000 crore, government has sought Rs 6,000 crore for a 400-km highway project in Mizoram between Aizwal and Tuipang.
A soft loan from JICA means the roads ministry can get funds at 0 .5 percent interest rate for a period of over 25 years. The government plans to undertake construction of 1,000 km of highway network in the north east.
“Detailed project report for all these projects have already been approved by JICA,” Kumar added.
The construction of these highway projects would be undertaken by the newly formed NHIDCL that has been mandated to undertake highway expansion work in India’s hilly states.