Committee clears highway projects worth Rs 12,000 cr

The Public Private Partnership project Appraisal Committee on Monday cleared a slew of high value highway projects worth over Rs 12,000 crore.

The Public Private Partnership project Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) on Monday cleared a slew of high value highway projects worth over Rs 12,000 crore. The 11 projects cleared on Monday were pending for approval for some time, with one project awaiting a go-ahead for nearly six years.

The Rs 1,250-crore project to four lane the Muzaffarnagar-Haridwar-Dehradun stretch is being closely monitored by the Cabinet Secreteriat and has finally got PPPAC’s approval.

“There was a major slew of projects cleared for the NHAI. Over Rs 10,000 crore worth of projects spread across 800-900 kms will be covered under the 11 projects cleared by the PPPAC. With these approved, our major pending projects have got a green signal. Pre-qualification bids have already been invited for these BOT projects and once we have shortlisted them, we will call for tenders,” said a senior official.

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Muzaffarnagar-Haridwar stretch had been prepared way back in 2001 and was declared as imperative in the light of the high traffic demand at the pilgrim centre.

That apart, there is the Rs 1,700-crore project for an elevated road connecting Chennai port to NH 4 and a four-lane stretch between Bihar’s capital Patna and Buxar.

Two stretches from Bihar, three from Tamil Nadu, another two from Maharashtra and one from Kerala were part of the projects that got the go-ahead.

The PPPAC met after nearly two months and cleared these high value projects. While most of the projects cleared are under the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) Phase III, one in Andhra Pradesh and another near Nagpur are under the North-South corridor.