National Highway (road) projects worth about ₹20,000 crore are under various stages of development in Telangana, a senior official of the State government said here on Thursday.

Engineer-in-Chief, NH, CRF in the Roads and Buildings Department I.G.Reddy said while the department was implementing ₹7,000-8,000 crore of NH projects, which predominantly were two lane road development, barring the occasional four lane, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was implementing projects worth ₹7,000 crore.

These apart, NH projects worth ₹7,000 crore more were under tendering process, he said, addressing the inaugural session of a two-day national conference on ‘Highways, Bridges and Tunnels Construction Technology’ being organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Rapid pace

Noting that the development of the road network was under way at a rapid pace in Telangana, Mr. Reddy said at the time of the State formation “We had 27,000 km of State roads, rural roads of more than 50,000 km and national highways of 3,000 kms...” Only 30% of the major districts roads were two-lane. Of the remaining 70% single lane roads some did not even have black topping. In the last four years, close to 8,500 km of additional two or more lane roads had been developed.

This, he sought to highlight, was a significant improvement given that in 2014, when the State was formed, there were 7,000 km of two or more lane roads. Mr. Reddy said in the last four years almost ₹10,000 crore was spent on development of State road network. Through the persistent efforts of the State government, Telangana got additional 3,150 km national highway approved by the Centre. This would add to the 2,527 km NH network in the State in 2014.

Regional Ring Road

There were also plans to develop Regional Ring Road around Hyderabad on the models of expressway as a measure to decongest the city and spur development of other area. Several meetings had taken place on the proposal, including one recently when a presentation on the alignment of the project was made to Secretary, Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Since it would involve significant land acquisition, the State government, on a suggestion of the Centre, had agreed to bear 50% of the cost towards the acquisition. “We have finalised the feasibility reports, submitted the alignment proposal...” he said, adding around 340 km of expressway is to be developed as part of the Regional Ring Road around Hyderabad that connects to locations in a radius of 50-60 kms.

The project is expected to spur development in the region around Hyderabad, including pave the way for setting of new industrial units, logistics parks, Mr. Reddy said.