Two highway widening projects get Cabinet nod

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Tuesday cleared two major highway widening projects that will improve connectivity of Varanasi to Lucknow and central UP on the one hand and to northeastern part of the state further into Nepal on the other. Varanasi is the home constituency of Prime Minister.

The Cabinet also cleared another project in Tamil Nadu. All these projects covering 455 km will be built with public funding of about Rs 9,500 crore, a government release said. All the projects are likely to be completed in two and half years from the date of award.

Road ministry sources said that the two projects in UP will improve road links in the chronically infrastructure deficit region of state's eastern part.

According to the proposals approved by Cabinet, the Sultanpur-Varanasi section of NH-56 in UP will be widened to four lanes and it will involve about Rs 3,800 crore. This will substantially upgrade Varanasi's connectivity to Lucknow and other parts of central UP.

The second project relates to four-laning of the Varanasi to Ghazipur, Gorakhpur and further to Nepal section of National Highway-29 in the state. This is likely to improve regional connectivity and facilitate improved movement of people and goods in the region and across the border. The widening of this 200 km highway stretch will need capital investment of approximately Rs 4,400 crore.

Officials said that widening of this corridor will improve the travel between Varanasi and Nepal. Recently, a new bus service to Nepal started on this stretch.

The third project relates to four laning/ two laning of the Madurai-Ramanathapuram section of NH-49 in Tamil Nadu. The widening of this 115 km will require an investment of about Rs 1,400 crore.

http://ift.tt/1Ph510I Highway-29,Narendra Modi

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