Chhattisgarh to invest Rs 9500 crore for road upgradation

The advisor would be appointed by May end and the tender and processes required for the project would start in July

Chhattisgarh plans to invest Rs 9,500 crore to upgrade 44 roads in the state. Chief Minister Raman Singh chaired a meeting to give final shape to the proposal. According to a state government spokesperson, the meeting discussed the appointment of a technical advisor for the project and the bidding process.

The advisor would be appointed by the end of May and the tender and processes required for the project would start in July. The project is expected to be completed in 21 months, added the spokesperson.

The officials of the public works department informed in the meeting that under the project, about 1900 km of roads would be taken up for the upgradation. Of these, 19 are state roads while 25 are district roads. The districts to be benefitted by the project include Kawardha, Bemetara, Durg, Balod, Rajnandgaon, Balodabazar, Mahasamund, Korba, Jashpur and Bilaspur.

The initiative to start the project is also a move of state government to kick off the commitment made in the budget 2015-16. Chief Minister Raman Singh, who also holds the additional portfolio of finance department, had said in the budget speech that about 2,000 km of existing roads would be upgraded in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode with an estimated investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

The focus on infrastructure was the highlight of the budget with state government allocating Rs 11,000 crore that was an increase of over 39% as compared to the fund allotted for infrastructure development last year. The allocation for the road sector alone was Rs 5,183 crore, an increase of 43% over last year.