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The minister 'inaugurated and laid foundation stone for 16 National Highway Projects in Manipur with an investment of Rs 4,148 crore covering total length of 298 kms,
Photo Credit : Ritesh Sharma
In a major push to road infrastructure in the North East, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday inaugurated and laid foundation stone for 16 national highway projects in Manipur with a total outlay of Rs 4,148 crore.
According to a road ministry statement, the projects will provide all-weather connectivity to Manipur with the rest of the country and the neighbouring countries. These highway projects will boost agricultural, industrial and socio-economic progress of the region, besides facilitating health care and emergency service to the remotest of the areas and generating employment and self employment opportunities, it said.
The minister 'inaugurated and laid foundation stone for 16 National Highway Projects in Manipur with an investment of Rs 4,148 crore covering total length of 298 kms,' as per the statement.
Inaugurating the projects in Imphal, the road transport and highways minister said projects worth Rs 5,000 crore have also been sanctioned for the state and the detailed project reports (DPR) will be completed within six months and the work will start in a year's time. Gadkari said expansion of highways in the state will be recommended under the Bharatmala Phase ll Pariyojana.
He pointed out that the Prime Minister is giving the highest priority to the North East and road infrastructure will contribute in development of Manipur and make it socially and economically strong. The minister said that water, power, transport and communication are the four most important things for development of industry, for generating employment and eradicating poverty. He noted that Manipur is a very beautiful state with immense potential for tourism.
Gadkari also sought the cooperation of all the stakeholders for resolution of problems and completion of projects in a time-bound manner. 'The progress in ongoing highway projects in Manipur is not very very good...I like people who get things done, we need to resolve the problem and increase the speed,' he said.
Gadkari reiterated that India has decided to allow ethanol-based 'flex engines', which power vehicles using local farm produce and not fossil fuels, and will be rolling out a scheme on the same in the next three months.
He pointed out that other countries of the world like Brazil, the US and Canada have flex engines which are powered by farm produce, and exhorted automakers like BMW, Mercedes and Toyota to develop vehicles running on the alternative fuel.
(PTI)