KAKINADA: Roads and Buildings (R&B) Minister Dadisetti Ramalingeswara Rao (Raja) on Saturday said road renovation and development works at an estimated cost of Rs 2,205 crore are under progress across the State.
Speaking at a review meeting held with the officials at Tuni municipal office, Raja said of the total 1,167 road works taken up for execution, 436 were completed and the remaining will be completed by the month-end. Around Rs 705 crore was paid to contractors and steps are being taken to complete the road development works before the monsoon. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has lauded the State government and allocated several national highway projects, the minister said.
“We have taken a loan of Rs 2,205 crore from Bank of Baroda to develop 8,268 km of State highways and major district roads. Works of 438 roads have already been completed. The remaining works are in progress and steps are being taken to complete the ongoing works by the end of June. So far, 2,756 km of road works were completed and over Rs 700 crore was paid to the contractors,” Raja said.
The R&B minister said that Rs 1,158 crore loan was given by the NABARD under the NIDA scheme to restart 233 plan works (99-State Highways, 93 Major District Roads and 41 District Roads). Of these, 182 have already been completed. Another 51 will be completed by the end of this month. Around Rs 667 crore was paid to the contractors.
The government had sanctioned Rs 105 crore in 2019-20, Rs 237 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 86 crore in 2021-22 to recarpet the damaged roads and carry out repair works. In 2019-20, Rs 124 crore was paid to the contractors. In 2020-21, Rs 245 crore and Rs 266 crore in 2021-22 were paid to the contractors. Around 2,600 km length of roads will be developed in two phases with assistance from the New Development Bank (NDB). Apart from the Rs 4,480 crore loan, the government is spending Rs 1,920 crore, he said.