Panel favours use of cement in road projects

A Plan panel-appointed group has suggested use of cement in all expansion works of National and State highways.

“All new expansions in the national and State highways may be made of cement concrete as a policy. To begin with, this percentage can be 30 per cent of the total allocations,” the Planning Commission-appointed Working Group for charting out the road map for the XII Plan (2012—17), said.

World-class

The creation of roads with the use of cement concrete was needed to build “a world-class road infrastructure in the country for the rapid and inclusive growth of the economy.'' The domestic cement industry, which has around 330 million tonnes installed capacity, has been pitching for the idea for quite some time now.