Roads and highways ministry makes strong pitch for Rs 85k crore allocation in Budget 2016!

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Roads and highways ministry makes strong pitch for Rs 85k crore allocation in Budget 2016!Roads and highways sector, which is one of the focus areas of PM Narendra Modi government, received an allocation of Rs 42,913 crore in the 2015-16 Union Budget.
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In Budget 2016, the ministry is now eyeing an outlay of Rs 85,000 crore, double of what it got in last fiscal.

The ministry wants to add at least 30 kilometres of roads every day and is also looking to fast-track highways project.

“Out of the allocation for the current fiscal, the ministry has already utilised about 80 per cent of the allocated funds and the rest is likely to be used up by March 31,” a Road Ministry official told PTI.

Meanwhile, the Nitin Gadkari-led road ministry has also sought Rs 500 crore allocation for the automated driving licence project.

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According to Gadkari, not just 30 per cent of driving licences in the country are "bogus", but shortage of drivers in India is at 22 per cent.

The ministry also wants Rs 250 crore for implementation of cashless insurance for road accident victims, besides Rs 50 crore for research and development.

The government also has plans to build several green expressways, in addition to the existing expressways, including the Delhi-Dehradun stretch.

Also, a 1,000-km highway at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore to link Chardham and a 1,000-km highway project to connect the Buddha Circuit in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are in the works. At the same time, the government is working on speeding up the road building pace, which is 18 km a day at present, to 30 km by March.

(Image: Indiatimes)