Bhopal, Nov. 5 -- The Madhya Pradesh government is preparing to develop five greenfield road corridors spanning 1,398 km at an estimated cost of Rs 63,296 crore to strengthen connectivity across the state. The proposed four-lane, access-controlled corridors will connect major cities and regions, providing a boost to infrastructure development and economic activity.
The projects include the 320-km Bhopal-Gwalior, 258-km Bhopal-Mandsaur corridor, 227-km Sagar-Satna corridor, 358-km Jabalpur-Ashapur corridor, and 235-km Katni-Singrauli corridor. All five corridors are proposed to be developed with paved shoulders.
The progress of these projects was reviewed at the 49th meeting of the Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC) board, chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday.
The board authorised the corporation to undertake feasibility studies for all five corridors and prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) for those found viable. For the Bhopal-Mandsaur, Sagar-Satna and Jabalpur-Ashapur corridors, consultants are preparing feasibility reports and examining different alignment options. The MPRDC is in the process of selecting the most suitable alignments. The tender process for appointing DPR consultants for the Bhopal-Gwalior and Katni-Singrauli corridors is also underway.
The Chief Minister renamed the highway fund proposed by the corporation as 'Viksit Madhya Pradesh Sankalp Path'.
Among other decisions, the board approved the divestment of 100 per cent equity in the four-lane Jaora-Nayagaon project under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. It also cleared the creation of two Chief Engineer posts, three General Manager posts and five Deputy General Manager posts to strengthen the corporation's functioning.
The board cleared the proposal to transfer ownership of projects to be upgraded through loans, including state highways and other roads, to the MPRDC. It also approved exemption for combine harvesters used for agricultural purposes from user charges at toll plazas operated by the corporation under BOT (Toll), BOT (Toll and Annuity), Operate-Maintain-Transfer (OMT) and user-fee-based schemes.
PWD Minister Rakesh Singh attended the meeting. Chief Secretary Ashok Barnwal, Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development and Housing) Sanjay Dubey, Principal Secretary to the CM and PWD Sukhveer Singh, Secretary (Public Relations) and MPRDC Managing Director Bharat Yadav, and the Corporation's CGM Pradeep Jain and technical advisor R K Mehra were also present.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.