In a major push to country’s road infrastructure program, the Central Government has given green signal for the up gradation of nearly 561.87 km of highways in five states. The road projects worth Rs 6,151.94 crore have already been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure.

The government aims to expand 439 km existing four-lane section roads of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) scheme in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan in to six lanes for addressing the rising traffic problem. The GQ project, to be executed on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis, would cost around Rs 4,279.94 crore.

Other projects approved by the government includes the 140.35-km Pune-Satara section on NH-4 in Maharashtra, the 242.51-km Udaipur-Ahmedabad section on NH-8 in Rajasthan and Gujarat and the 56.16-km Samakhiali-Gandhidham section on NH-8A in Gujarat.

These projects, to be completed in 912 days, would help to expedite road infrastructure in states. The builders would also provide highway traffic management systems and other road safety measures for availing the concession period of 24 years for the NH-4 and NH-8A projects and 30 years for the NH-8 project.