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NHAI’s 12th Plan Target: More Roads in Naxal-Hit Areas

  • The highways ministry has made elaborate plans to build roads in neglected areas and untouched zones in the next five years. These include roads in Naxal infested areas and tribal dominated zones. The ministry will spend at least Rs 16,000 crore during the 12th plan which will provide greater employment opportunity to locals during construction besides opening roads for economic activities in these areas.In its document submitted to the Planning Commission, the highways ministry has proposed to complete 4,426km in left wing extremism (LWE) affected areas by 2015 with budgetary support of Rs 5,376 crore and another 8,014km would be completed by the end of the plan period. This second phase of road development in LWE affected areas is yet to be approved by the Centre.

  • Similarly, under the tribal sub plan (TSP), the ministry proposes to take up development of state roads in districts identified in Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. The ministry proposes to take up development of about 1,000km roads to two lane standards in these districts with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore during the 12th plan period.

  • "These stretches have to be built with complete budgetary support since these are financially unviable for any private developer. Moreover, the focus of building these roads is to push equitable socio-economic development of these areas to bring these areas into national mainstream," said a senior official. These roads will be developed in regions and districts other than those covered under the special programme for development of roads in the LWE affected areas.

  • The ministry is also pushing the plan to develop better road network along borders, which would be developed by the Border Road Organization (BRO) with a gross budgetary support of Rs 3,000 crore during the five-year period. Moreover, it has submitted proposals to build 103 strategically important stretches in Jammu and Kashmir; and for this the ministry needs Rs 700 crore budgetary allocation from the Centre.On top of this, at the behest of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC), the highways ministry has identified about 812 km state roads in Rajasthan and Maharashtra to be developed to 4-lane standards. These roads will include Dighi port connectivity and Shendra-Bidkin mega industrial park connectivity in Maharashtra and roads in Neemrana-Khushkhera-Bhiwadi investment region in Rajasthan.

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