Cabinet nod to 6-laning of National Highways at Rs 41,210 cr

New Delhi, Oct 5 (UNI) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved undertaking of six-laning of the 6,500 km of National Highways, including 5700 km of Golden Quadrilateral, at a cost of Rs 41,210 crore.

The current four lane National Highways will be converted into six lanes under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase V, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the CCEA meeting.

Besides the Golden Quadrilateral, 800 km of other sections of the National Highways will be made six lane.

Of the total project cost, Rs 35,692 crore will be from the private sector and the balance Rs 5,518 as viability gap, cost of land acquisition, utility shifting and consultancy to be met by the government.

The cost of NHDP V projects is estimated at Rs 6.34 crore per km-- Rs 5.78 crore per km for construction and Rs 0.56 crore per km for land acquisition, utilities and construction.

The projects are to be taken up on build operate and transfer mode following a design, build, finance and operate pattern with a maximum of 10 per cent viability gap funding.

''The upgradation of existing roads will improve traffic safety and provide faster movement of vehicles with improved riding quality and time. This will lead to reduction in vehicle operating cost and significant reduction in fuel consumption for the vehicle resulting in energy conservation,'' Mr Chidambaram said.

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