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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Centre have signed a $177-million loan to upgrade 450 km of State Highways and major district roads in Maharashtra.
An official statement said the project will improve connectivity between rural areas and urban centres in the State enabling rural communities better access markets, employment opportunities and services. Improved mobility will expand development and livelihood opportunities outside the State’s major urban centres to second-tier cities and towns thus reducing income disparities.
Another feature of the project is to update the road maintenance system by encouraging 5-year performance-based maintenance obligations to contractors to sustain asset quality and service levels, the statement said.
“The project will upgrade 2 major district roads and 11 State highways, with combined length of 450 km, to 2-lane standard across seven districts of Maharashtra, and improve connectivity to national highways, interstate roads, seaports, airports, rail hubs, district headquarters, industrial areas, enterprise clusters and agricultural areas,” the statement said.
The project will also focus on training the Maharashtra Public Works Department project staff to build their capacity in climate change adaptation and disaster resilient features in road design, road maintenance planning and road safety, the statement added.
NHAI gets ₹ 5,011 crore
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has received ₹ 5,011 crore from Cube Mobility Investment after award of the Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) 3 bundle. The 566-km highway would consist of nine toll plazas spread across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Tamil Nadu.
The concession period is 30 years and the concessionaire shall operate, maintain and collect the toll during the concession period. This is the second award under TOT mode and the first award of length of 681 km consisting 10 toll plazas was awarded to MAIF for an upfront consideration of ₹ 9,681.5 crore in 2018. The NHAI is in the process of award of more stretches under TOT mode for monetisation of its completed public funded projects, an official statement said.
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