Govt clears port, highway projects of worth Rs 5,220 crore

NEW DELHI: The government has cleared two port projects and five highway projects with a total cost of Rs 5,220 crore to be executed jointly by private developers and various government agencies, the finance ministry said here on Tuesday.

A panel chaired by Ashok Chawla, secretary, department of economic affairs, which cleared the projects, said the largest project by cost was in Tamil Nadu--four laning of Trivandrum-Krishnagiri part of national high way 66 at Rs 1,075 crore.

Tamil Nadu will also widen parts of NH 45 at a cost of Rs 813. Maharashtra will widen Pune-Sholapur high way at RS 810 crore and Talegaon-Amravati highway at Rs 611 crore. Bihar will widen the Muzaffarpur-Sonbarsa high way at Rs 933 crore, the ministry said.

Since January 2006, the panel has approved 101 projects, with an estimated cost of Rs.1,00,383.89 crore. These include 88 highways, nine ports, two airports, a tourism Infrastructure project and a railway project.