Work is in progress to develop almost 700 km of national highways involving a cost of about ₹7,952 crore in Nagaland, said Road Transport and Highways and MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari. He said this as he laid the foundation and inaugurated the National Highway projects for a length of 270 km with a project cost of ₹4,127 crore.

The Road Ministry has increased the sanctioning ceiling for works to be done in Nagaland by about ₹1,600 crore on a base of ₹2,128 crore, taking the total ceiling to ₹3,735 crore, said Gadkari. These projects will be implemented by National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) and the state public works department. The higher sanctions are approximately ₹1,200 crore for state PWD (against ₹680 crore) and ₹2,535 crore for NHICDL (against ₹1,445 crore).

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Discussing some of the projects where progress is slow, Gadkari said that NHIDCL has been providing advances to contractors to ensure there is no shortage of working capital, and has also opened joint account with contractors to ensure that funds are used for road development and not diverted. For some projects, Gadkari asked Nagaland to speed up the land acquisition process.

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Nagaland also sought support for developing the 248 km trans-Nagaland highway ― also called foothill road ― which is awaiting approval by the Prime Minister to be declared a National Highway. The project would involve a cost of ₹4,426 crore, according to Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. Rio also sought double-laning of all National Highways in the hilly, land-locked state of Nagaland that provides connectivity to the neighbouring state of Manipur.

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