'92.5 per cent of Golden Quadrilateral complete'

New Delhi, Aug 10: Altogether 92.5 per cent of the much-delayed Golden Quadrilateral project has been completed by June 2006 and only 437 km is left for completion, the Rajya Sabha was told today.

Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K H Muniyappa said in a written reply that 96 per cent of the 5,846 km-long Golden Quadrilateral is targeted for completion by December 2006.

"Balance of 4 per cent stretches are affected due to non-performance of contractor, reward of terminated contracts and also award of Allahabad bypass in 2004 with completion date in 2007," he said.

Replying to supplementaries regarding expenditure on the project, the Minister this was within the total approved cost allowing for escalation.

"The cost overrun if any, will be known only after the completion of project," he added.

Port Capacity: Major ports in India achieved a growth of 10 per cent or more during the past three years since 2003-04. The aggregate capacity of 12 major ports as on March 31, 2006 was 456.20 million tonnes per annum growth, Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T R Baalu said.

UNI