Centre Announces Rs 41,000 Crores For TS Roads

Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari today said that the Centre had allotted Rs 41,000 crores in all to Telangana for the development of national highways.

Gadkari laid the foundation stone for the expansion of the 163rd national highway at Madikonda in the Warangal district, and nationalised the Eturunagaram bridge along with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Roads & Buildings Minister Thummala Nageshwar Rao and others.

The union minister, who was in Madikonda to lay the foundation stone for a four-lane road between Yadadri and Warangal (99 km), said that a total of 1,670 kms of new national highways - express highways connecting Hyderabad and Bengaluru, and also Hyderabad and Vijayawada - would be built in Telangana at a cost of Rs 16,500 crores.

The Centre had acceded to KCR's request for these roads, he said, adding that the Telangana government had been advised to prepare DPRs for these works.

Gadkari said that DPRs for the development of 486 km of national highways were also in progress, for which another Rs 5,000 crores would be spent. The works for the improvement of 104 kms of roads - between Nakrekal to Thanamcherla (71 km), and between Jamandlapalli and Mangalwaripet (33 km) on NH-365 - would be taken up in the next six months, he said.

He also said that the Bhadrachalam-Kautala road would be developed into a national highway.

The Union government had sanctioned Rs 900 crores for the development of roads in Telangana under the annual plan for 2015-16, he informed.

Gadkari also sought the State government's report to develop Godavari the Water Transport system, and promised to help Telangana develop in all sectors.

Later, extending thanks to the Centre, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said that the Telangana people would remember the name of Nitin Gadkari forever for all the roads coming up. He also asked the Union minister to build more railway bridges in Telangana.