The budget brouhaha is almost over. The middle class is left to count the usual beatitudes while, in the meantime, sharing a furtive glee at the tumble of a multi-billionaire from the global rich list. Fortunes, so fleeting, can be swept away from under one’s feet in a flash, one sighs. Some figures stare at us, too big to make any sense. Like the Rs 7 lakh crore that evaporated in a market rout. Wish it away as a tiny storm in a teacup at your own peril. All this while the middle class grapples with an immensely tough Rs 7-lakh tax puzzle.
Like the other opposition-ruled states, Tamil Nadu was deeply miffed. No new projects were announced for the state, when the neighbouring poll-bound Karnataka got a gift of Rs 5,300 crore for its Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project. The interest-free loans for states to take part in India’s capital investment is no small mercy, though.
Then there’s this massive fund of Rs 2.7 lakh crore. That is a lot of money earmarked for highways and expressways across India. One-fourth higher than the revised estimates of the current financial year. Road works are always for the politically connected, and Karnataka’s 40% commission story is made of glitzier stuff. Users will take care of the capex, even if it means paying a fortune during their lifetime. It is aptly called ‘toll’. No prizes for guessing why highways have seen a massive investment in recent years. And highway construction in India is like a long tunnel without an end in sight.
Even when e-ways and highways make headlines elsewhere, the existing Chennai-Bengaluru highway expansion goes like the tortoise in the Aesop’s Fable, barring the dream finale. It is work-in-ridiculously-slow-progress This trunk route, connecting two bustling cities, is barely 330 km long. Ideally, on any given highway, it’s a little over a three-hour drive. Recently, I took over eight hours to cover it. The initial stretch of Chennai-Ranipet (around 115 km) takes around four hours.
Nothing has changed from my previous trip a year ago. I counted 13 diversions and ‘go-slow’ signposts on the way, thanks to the under-construction flyovers and bridges. Some worksites wear an abandoned look. The contractors and NHAI blame it on the lack of gravel, soil and other raw materials. But we hear the cost of construction has gone up manifold and there is a severe fund crunch. Everyone is tight-lipped. Is RTI the only way to force transparency?
While the highway work moves at a snail’s pace, another brand-new Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway is being constructed cutting across three states at a total cost of Rs 17,000 crore. It is a 285-km long, access-controlled e-way, expandable up to eight lanes, and designed for 120 kmph speed.
It starts from Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu and passes through Ranipet, Chittoor, Kolar Gold Fields, Bangarpet and ends at Hoskote on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Nitin Gadkari says it would be completed by March 2024. Sounds too ambitious. Gadkari’s optimism has no bounds: once the e-way is opened, there will be no flights connecting the two cities, he claims. Really? The Mumbai-Pune expressway, nearly 100km long, hasn’t achieved that feat so far.
The naysayers and politically-motivated rabble-rousers can take a break. Let there be more highways and e-ways.