Puducherry Chief Minister VNarayanasamy on Saturday expressed gratitude to Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari for conceding massive highways development projects in the union territory.He told newsmen that the Union Minister visited Puducherry on Friday for a meeting to review the national highways projects required for the former French colony.Narayanasamy said the Minister had conceded at the meeting the plea of the territorial government to expedite the Rs 926-crore Villupuram-Nagapattinam four-lane project.The project was earlier evolved during the previous UPA government at the Centre."I requested Nitin Gadkari to expedite the project as it will be of help to Tamilnadu and Union Territory of Puducherry as such a project would ease traffic and also facilitate movement of passenger and cargo vehicles," he said.The chief minister said the Minister had also agreed to expedite the Mahabalipuram-Puducherry four-way lane involving an expenditure of Rs 800 crore.Other projects sanctioned by the Union Minister during the meeting on Friday includedthe Rs 130-crore four- lane highway project between Madagapadipet (on Puducherry- Villupuram route) and the Puducherry on ECR block and the Rs 300-crore Murungapakkam-Puducherry route.The development of these projects would ease traffic on the arterial routes and also contribute to the economic and industrial growth.He said he had also requested the Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, on a one-day visit to Puducherry on Friday, to sanction the funds under tourism development projects for the union territory.
