J&K secures Rs.60, 000-cr infra infusion

Making up for the long suffered industrial backwardness due to lack of required focus of the successive Central and state governments, the current Union government has recently decided to invest Rs.60,000 crore on an infrastructure development program in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. In this connection, the Central government recently sanctioned Rs.4,300 crore for the construction of ring roads, one each in Jammu and Srinagar, to decongest traffic in the twin cities, Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari said, adding that Rs.2,100 crore and Rs.2,200 crore have been cleared for the ring roads of both cities. Tenders for the Jammu Ring Road have already been invited and for Srinagar, they will be invited shortly. The recently inaugurated longest tunnel connecting Udhampur and Ramban districts of Jammu and Kashmir would provide an all-weather road to the Kashmir Valley and reduce two hours of travel time on the 300-km highway, the only surface link that connects Kashmir with the rest of India. He also announced the construction of 13 other tunnels in the state in the near future, which will in turn give the much needed booster to the transport facilities across the region.