Govt awards 53 road projects in Naxal-hit areas

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday said it has awarded works for 53 road projects envisaging investment of Rs 1,615 crore in the Naxal-affected areas.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has awarded 53 works costing Rs 1,615 crore for road connectivity in the Left wing extremism affected areas, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways RPN Singh said in the Rajya Sabha today.

This forms part of the overall 138 sanctioned estimates for 3,831 km length costing Rs 4,390 crore. The largest numbers of works have been awarded in Chattisgarh (19 works for 699 km costing Rs 839 crore), he said.

Singh also said that the amount of toll collected on national highways has increased to Rs 2,251.02 crore in 2009-10. This is 14.18 per cent higher than the toll collected in 2008-09 at Rs 1,971.46 crore, and 35.51 per cent higher than what was collected in 2007-08 (Rs 1,661.11 crore).

Rajasthan collected the highest amount of toll of Rs 352.13 crore followed by Andhra Pradesh, Rs 340.65 crore and Maharashtra, Rs 273.80 crore, he added.

There are 213 toll plazas operating on national highways in the country.