Plan panel shortens road-building target
18 May 2010
The Planning Commission has lowered the target for construction of roads under the National Highway Development Project to 2,500km for the current fiscal from 3,165km in the previous year, a target which was not met by the ministry of road transport and highways.
The ministry could construct barely about 2,009km of roads under the NHDP in the previous fiscal against a target of 3,165km.
Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters in New Delhi yesterday that the panel has fixed the target for award of projects for construction of roads during 2010-11 at 9,000 km, down from 9,806 km in the previous fiscal.
Last year, the road ministry awarded projects for construction of only 2,609km of roads under the NHDP and Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in the North-Eastern Region (SARDP-NE).
The ministry spent just Rs11,608 crore on construction of roads last year, against the budget of Rs30,000 crore.
Ahluwalia also announced that the Planning Commission had set up a mechanism for quarterly monitoring of infrastructure projects in the crucial sectors - power, telecom, road, shipping, highways, and airports and ports.