Even as the Uttar Pradesh government is banking upon public private partnership (PPP) model for faster economic development, the industrial areas in the state have been granted less than half-per cent of funds from UP state road fund (UPSRF).
Of the Rs 1,714 crore proposals cleared by the UPSRF Management Committee recently, only Rs 7 crore have been allocated for roads traversing the industrial areas.
Home to over three million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), UP has number of industrial enclaves and areas, including Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bhadohi, Varanasi, Moradabad, Meerut, Saharanpur, Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Noida, Aligarh etc dedicated to different industries and craft.
While these areas continue to crave for better road connectivity, the situation turns grim during and after monsoon season every year. The broken, potholed and waterlogged roads are a nightmare for traders, businessmen and industrialists, putting a dent on the claims of the state government of rolling out red carpet to investors.
UPSRF is financed by multiple resources, including budgetary support from the central and state governments, cess on fuel, motor vehicle tax, fee etc. The funds are used both for development and maintenance of road network.
UP is following the PPP model in State Highways (SH) sector and has already handed over two projects in western UP totalling Rs 2,072 crore to private partners.
The two SHs include Delhi-Saharanpur-Yamunotri Road (SH 57) and Bareilly-Almora-Bagheshwar Road (SH-37). The developers selected for these projects are M/s SEW-Prasad Consortium, Hyderabad and M/s PNC-Infratech Ltd, Agra respectively.
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On March 28, the state cabinet had decided on PPP model in upgradation and maintenance of SH. It would cover 20 SHs and span 2,300 km across districts.
Thereafter, the bidding process was started for these projects entailing investment of almost Rs 12,000 crore. The bidding process for other SH projects is underway.