Two Mega Projects In AP At Rs 6400 Crore

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh government has embarked on the largest EAP in roads sector by collaborating with the New Development Bank at an estimated cost of Rs 6400 Crore to improve rural and mandal connectivity.

Under AP Mandal and Rural Connectivity Improvement Project (APMCRCIP) and AP Roads and Bridges Reconstruction Project (APRBRP) roads will be extended from district centers to mandal centers and from mandal centers to another neighboring mandal in two lanes, where a total of 3104 km of roads (highways) will be widened and constructed and 479 bridges will be rebuilt.

During a review meeting on these two mega projects held here on Thursday, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had directed the officials to ensure that the construction of roads gets completed expeditiously without compromising on the quality.

In regard to this, the Chief Minister congratulated the R&B officials for executing the tender process in a transparent manner. These two mega projects would play a key role in the development of the state by enhancing the connectivity between industrial hubs and rural areas, said the Chief Minister adding that the projects would also create employment on a large scale. The Chief Minister instructed the officials to take further steps for developing the State with the help of the New Development Bank for the EAP (Externally Aided Project). The two mega projects will be undertaken at a cost of Rs 6400 Crore, at an expenditure of Rs 3,200 crore for each project. The main objective of this project is to extend the double lane connectivity from the district centers to the zonal centers and the double lane connectivity from the zonal centers to other adjoining zonal centers. So far, in the first phase of this project, administrative clearances for 1,243 km of road works have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 2,978 crore, and a letter of agreement has been completed for 13 packages where the works shall take off from next month. The officials mentioned that through reverse tendering Rs 85.43 crore has been saved and the DPRs for the second phase of works are under process.

For the execution of these two projects, a tripartite agreement was signed on January 6 between the State Government, Union government, and the New Development Bank. New Development Bank has a 70 percent stake while the state government holds a 30 percent stake. On behalf of Union Government, Baldeo Purushartha, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, MT Krishnababu, Principal Secretary of Roads, and Buildings, representing State government and Xian Zhu, Vice President, and Chief Operations Officer of New Development Bank have signed the agreement. This is the largest of all the externally aided projects taken up in the road sector across the state.

Minister for Roads and Buildings M Shankar Narayana, Chief Secretary Adityanath Das, Principal Secretary of Transport MT Krishna Babu, and other officials were present at the meeting.