Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rolled out specific announcements for election-bound states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam.
Overall, the government has already awarded contracts for more than 13,000 KM of roads at a cost of Rs 3.3 lakh crore under the 5.35 lakh crore Bharatmala Pariyojana project.
Now, around 675 km of highway works has been announced for West Bengal with an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore.
Meanwhile, Rs 1.03 lakh crore will be invested in building 3,500 km national highway works in Tamil Nadu. “These include Madrai-Kollam corridor, Chittoor-Thatchur corridor, and construction will start next year,” Sitharaman stated in her budget speech.
1,100 km of national highway works has been sanctioned for Kerala at a cost of Rs 65000 crore. This also includes the 600 km section of the Mumbai-Kanyakumari corridor in Kerala.
The minister further announced, “National highway works of around 19,000 crores are currently in progress in the state of Assam. Further works of more than 34,000 crores covering more than 1,300 km of National Highways will be undertaken in the state in the coming three years.”