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Karnataka Accuses Centre for Not Releasing a Single Rupee Under PMGSY

  • Karnataka has accused the Centre for not releasing a single rupee in the last two years under the Prime Minister's Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).Addressing a FKCCI meet on ‘Pilot projects – special emphasis on Greenfield expressway in Karnataka', Mr Jagadish Shettar, Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, said the “State is ranked second in the country in the implementation of the PMGSY and should be encouraged than punished by not allocating any money for the last two years.”
  • “Under the scheme, about 16,115 km of road development has been approved and to be executed in seven phases. Recently, we completed phase 6 and will be competing both phase 7 and 8 by March 2012,” he added.Karnataka has taken up a similar project under the tile – Namma Grama Namma Raste (our village our road) about 20 km in each Assembly constituencies were taken up for development.“Under this project, we have spent on an average Rs 28 lakh/km. In phase 1, completed 3,714 km in 189 Assembly constituencies with a plan sanction of Rs 1,069 crore,” said Mr Shettar.
  • “Now this year, we plan to take up development of 30 km in each assembly constituencies” he added.The FKCCI President, Mr J.R. Bangera, urged both the Centre and the State Governments to work in tandem for building the much-needed express road ways for faster economic development.Allaying fears of Green field expressways, Mr Bangera said “the projects need fresh land with a new alignment. In the sense, it will not over lap the existing national highway on the same route.”
  • “The Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011, when it comes into effect, will push up the land acquisition cost, which is around 12 per cent at present, might go up by 23-25 per cent,” he added.Another key issue is financing. It is a good sign that the Governments are pushing various alternatives to locate funds for this important infrastructure requirement, which is estimated to be at around $60 billion.Mr Prakash Mandoth, Chairman, FKCCI's infrastructure committee, said “The industry welcomes the move of the State Government to take up development of the existing road network.”

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