TN road project: final round of talks soon for Rs. 5,115-crore World Bank aid.

Final round of negotiations for the Rs. 5,115-crore World Bank-aided road development project for Tamil Nadu will be held on March 20 in New Delhi, said Rajeev Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Department of Highways & Minor Ports, Government of Tamil Nadu.

The World Bank will provide $300 million for the project while the State government is seeking $500 million, Ranjan said at a seminar on TN Vision 2023: The Way Forward to mark the Tamil Nadu State Annual Day of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

A Detailed Project Report for 2,079 km is ready. Of this, 435 km will be two-lane project and 165 km will be four-lane, he said. Financing of infrastructure project is a major issue and the State government need to find innovative methods for road development.

Under the Vision 2023, Rs. 1.34 lakh crore is to be spent to upgrade road and port infrastructure. Last financial year, Rs. 3,800 crore was spent on road development and this year it will be Rs. 5,000 crore. However, the challenge is to do more public-private-projects, he said.

On the second phase of Outer Ring Road, Ranjan said work is expected to be completed six months ahead of schedule. The second phase costing nearly Rs. 1,400 crore was from Nemilichery to Minjur, in the northern periphery of the city while in the first phase it was from Vandalur to Nemilichery.


HBL