Government clears eight highway projects worth Rs 6,000 crore

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday cleared eight highway projects worth Rs 6000 crore. The total length of the projects is around 350 km.

Of the eight projects, two will be undertaken on the newly-conceived hybrid annuity model. Six will be taken up on government-funded engineering, procurement and construction ( EPC) model.

These projects won’t require cabinet clearance as their construction cost is less than Rs 1,000 crore, the limit up to which the road transport and highways ministry can approve projects on its own.

Most of these projects are in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Under the hybrid annuity model, 40 per cent of the project cost is to be provided by the government as construction support to the private developer during the construction period and the balance 60 per cent as annuity payments over the concession period along with interest on outstanding amount to the concessionaire.

This year government has a target of awarding road contracts for 10,000 km. The government now has a target of increasing the country's highway length to 200,000 km in coming years from the current 96,000 km.