Union Minister Nitin Gadkari sanctions over Rs 3,200 crore for National Highway projects

National Highway news today: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday sanctioned Rs 3,228.4 crore for upgrading certain National Highways in Karnataka and West Bengal. Out of the sum of Rs 3,228.4 crore, an amount of Rs 2,675.3 crore was authorised for the four-laning of the Belgaum-Hungund-Raichur section of National Highway (NH) 748A in Bagalkot and Belgavi districts in Karnataka, and Rs 553.1 crore for the development and four-laning of the Krishnagar-Behrampore and Barasat-Barajaguli sections on National Highway 34, according to two separate official statements. 

The work on NH 748A, spanning a distance of 92.4 kilometres, will be undertaken through the hybrid annuity mode, the Union Minister said on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter). 

The minister described the four-laning of the Belgaum-Hungund-Raichur project of the National Highway as “an integral part of the Panaji-Hyderabad EC10 corridor”. The cumulative length of the work on NH 34 stands at 28.23 kilometres.

The enhancement of these segments aims to alleviate congestion on the current two-lane highway, fostering a more efficient movement of freight from South Bengal to North Bengal, the minister added. 

The hybrid annuity model (HAM) is aimed at speeding up the construction of highways in the country by engaging private developers. 
Under this model, which involves public-private partnerships (PPP), the government pays 40 per cent of the project cost during the construction period and releases the remaining 60 per cent as annuity payments over the operational period. 

With inputs from agencies