Road Ministry to spend Rs 5,000-cr to convert Andhra roads to National Highways

NEW DELHI: The government today said it would invest Rs 5,000 crore towards conversion of 10,000 km of state roads to National Highways over the next three-five years.

"We will spend about Rs 5,000 crore in a phased manner and will complete 10,000 km National Highways (in Andhra Pradesh) in the next 3-5 years," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Sarvey Sathyanarayana told reporters here.

When asked about the rationale behind this conversion, he said: "This is mainly to cater to the increasing population for public convenience and betterment."

He added that the state governments may not be able to do so, mainly due to financial constraints.

These state roads are converted to National Highways on the basis of networth, longer connectivity, etc.

"The aim is primarily to connect all the state capitals," a Road Ministry official said here.

In the year 2009, there was a demand for converting 35,000 km to National Highways.

"That demand (35,000 km) has increased but it would be very difficult to say how much as the proposals from state governments for converting state highways to National Highways keep coming at regular intervals," the official added.

As many as six stretches of state highways in Andhra Pradesh have been converted to National Highways in the last financial year, covering a distance of over Rs 1,800 km.

At present, there are over 81,500 km of National Highways in the country of which 6,354 km are in the state of Andhra Pradesh.