Rajasthan seeks Rs 8000 cr pvt investment in roads

The Rajasthan government is seeking around Rs 8,000 crore of private investment to develop its roads and highways.

It is also inviting bids from the private sector for three mega power projects of over 1,000 mw each at Suratgarh, Kota and Bikaner. The projects are estimated to require combined investments of around Rs 3,000 crore.

Also in the pipeline are 330 mw and 125 mw projects in Dhaulpur and Geral, respectively, requiring investments of around Rs 1,500 crore. The state plans to attain complete electrification of all villages by 2007, Gajendra Singh, minister of state for energy and power, Rajasthan, said.

"The power and road infrastructure development initiatives will push industrial activity in the state and hence generate employment within the state," the minister said. Privatisation of power distribution is also on the anvil, he added.

The minister announced that a special purpose vehicle would be formed for executing the mega highway projects. Financing the road infrastructure projects will require funds of around Rs 10,300 crore for state highways and Rs 5,375 for rural roads, the minister said.

Out of this, Rs 7,750 crore were available with the government and the balance requirement of Rs 7,925 crore was to be raised from private investment and Government of India's 'viability gap' funds.

It is also expecting to raise Rs 200 crore annually from the cess of 50 paisa levied on diesel and petrol. A state road fund has been set up for leveraging capital for road investment.

The funds will be deployed towards constructing 7,240 new connecting roads and upgrading 1,200 km of important state highways. The infrastructure blueprint also includes developing and ramping up over 10,000 km of state highways and major district roads. Around 8,000 km of backlog is also to be renewed.

The finance will also be utilised for upgrading 2,500 km of rural roads and renewing a backlog of 12,000 km in rural areas. The state plans to connect all villages with population of over 500 with bitumen roads by 2007.