Kerala gets ₹44,000-cr national highway projects

The Kerala government has agreed to develop 600 km of national highways in the state for which it will invest ₹6,000 crore through its share of ₹3,000 crore from the GST income on construction materials. About ₹1,000 crore will be taken from the special fund of the PWD. Twenty percent of the project funds allotted to the main departments will be diverted for construction of the road projects.. It may be recalled that the Centre had downgraded Kerala‘s national highway development priority in May this year due to communication gap on a score of issues as Kerala was seeking better remuneration for land acquisition. The NHAI decided to apply temporary brakes on the project, which prompted the state to spring into action and clear the projects, which included expansion of the 45-m wide highways into four and six lanes, revealed National Highways Action Committee Chairman C R Neelakantan. About 20,000 families would be displaced in the process and the government is working out modalities for compensation to them.