The Public Works Department (PWD) would build roads, flyovers, and bridges worth Rs. 3,311 crore in the State during the coming two years, Minister for Public Works V.K. Ebrahim Kunju said here on Tuesday.
It would resurface 283 km of National Highways by December at a cost of Rs.187 crore, to ensure pothole-free highways in Kerala.
Of the 100 bridges envisaged in 400 days, 17 have been commissioned, he told mediapersons following a State-level PWD review meeting here.
Funds for these projects would be raised from the Re.1 cess per litre of fuel.
The PWD would get 50 per cent of this amount each year and this works out to Rs.200 crore. The firms that undertake the works will be repaid during a 15-year period, with an interest in the range of 12 to 14 per cent.
The department has set apart Rs.279 crore for a pilot project to improve roads in the State.
Kozhikode roads
Another Rs.177.22 crore will be spent to improve 22.25 km of roads in Kozhikode. The work on six roads will begin in September and will get over in two years. Fifty- nine per cent of the work on Kozhikode bypass is over and it will be opened to traffic in December.
The nod of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is awaited for the Rs.390-crore Thalassery-Mahe Bypass. Work on Ramapuram-Nalambalam Darshanam Road and Kanjikuzhy-Vettatukavala-Karukachal Road will be speeded up.
Mr. Kunju added that about 80 per cent of the Rs. 3,706 crore required to develop 60 roads is expected to be raised as foreign loan. The World Bank has accorded nod to develop 151 km of roads as part of the KSTP.
283 km of National Highways to be resurfaced by December at a cost of Rs.187 crore.