Eye on state polls: Big road projects in TN, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal

New Delhi: With an eye on the upcoming state Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday allocated special funds for the road and highway development projects in the three states during her Budget speech.

In the first digital Budget, the Finance Minister allocated Rs 65,000 crore for road and highway projects in Kerala, while Rs 25,000 crore for West Bengal and Rs 3,400 crore has been allocated for road infrastructure development in Assam. The Finance Minister has announced 3,500 kms of national highway works in Tamil Nadu at an investment of Rs 1.03 lakh crore.

Sitharaman also announced that the work would begin soon on the Phase-II of Kochi Metro Railway which would be 11.5 km long and cost Rs 1,957.05 crore.

The work projects in Tamil Nadu include the Madurai-Kollam corridor, and Chittoor-Thatchur corridor and the construction would start next year.

Notably, all four states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal will go to polls this year, expectedly in April-May.

As per the Budget speech of the Finance Minister, 1,100 km of national highway works in the state of Kerala would be done at an investment of Rs 65,000 crore, including 600 km section of the Mumbai-Kanyakumari corridor, while 6,700 km of highway work in the state of West Bengal at the cost of Rs 25,000 crore, including upgradation of existing roads Kolkata-Siliguri, has also been announced.

Sitharaman further informed that national highway works of Rs 19,000 crore was currently in progress in the state of Assam and further works of Rs 34,000 crore covering more than 1,300 kms of national highways will be undertaken in Assam in the next three years.

Notably, among the four poll-bound states, the BJP has a presence in Assam and West Bengal, while working hard to make inroads in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where it is in alliance with the ruling AIADMK.

Sitharaman further said that the government would award 8,500 kms of road projects and an additional 11,000 kms of national highway corridors by March 2022.

She also announced an Rs 18,000-crore scheme to augment public transport in urban areas, adding that more economic corridors are also being planned.