Funds from petrol and diesel cess to make UP zoom on highways

LUCKNOW: The increase of Re 1 in additional excise duty and road cess each on petrol and diesel per litre have raised the hopes of the state government for getting more funds for the construction and strengthening of roads. UP has one of the longest road networks in the country. Officials in the public works department (PWD) said that the increase in fuel cess was certainly going to benefit the state road network, essentially in villages to boost rural economy of the state.
"The increase in cess on fuel would contribute to the funds dedicated for road infrastructure and would benefit all states including UP," said principal secretary PWD Nitin Ramesh Gokaran. Officials said that an increase in funds could be utilized for strengthening roads connecting villages with district headquarters.
According to PWD records, UP has more than 2.4 lakh km of roads. Of these, around 8,500 km is that of national highways, around 7,000 km of state highways, nearly 7,300 km of main district roads, around 50,000 km of other district roads and over 1.6 lakh km of rural roads. Except for national highways, maintenance of all other kinds of roads is done by the state government.
Officials said that the funds pooled in from petrol and diesel costs would be utilized for maintenance of all kinds of roads.
The funds might also be utilised for making roads pothole-free, officials said. In 2018-19, the state government had identified over 44,000 km of roads to be made pothole-free, PWD records show.
For the financial year 2019-20, the state government would be carrying out road work for around 65,000 km at a cost of around Rs 3,500 crore. This includes 42,000 km of special repair work at a cost of Rs 294 crore, 16,500 km of newly constructed roads at a cost of Rs 2,186 crore and special maintenance of 6,500 km of road at a cost of over Rs 1,000 crore.