Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has expressed satisfaction at the way the Government of Andhra Pradesh has come forward to join hands with the Centre to usher in development. He has stated that development projects worth ₹2 lakh crore are in various stages of progress in the State.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone for national highway projects worth ₹2,900 crore in Tirupati on Thursday, he said the length of national highways in Andhra Pradesh had almost doubled from 4,193 km when he took over the Ministry in 2014 to a whopping 8,744 km now.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly believes in eradicating poverty and unemployment by developing infrastructure in the roads, water, power and communication segments,” he said. He welcomed the State government’s initiative to develop three more ports apart from Visakhapatnam.
Development had been accelerated for Tirupati, with projects worth ₹17,000 crore under way. While projects worth ₹4,000 crore had been completed, the Kadapa-Renigunta four-lane, Tirupati–Madanapalli four-lane and Renigunta–Naidupeta six-laning works would be completed by 2024. “The six-laning of the 35 km-highway stretch in Naidupeta–Thoorpu Kanupur and Krishnapatnam south gate–Thoorpu Kanupur and the four-laning of Thoorpu Kanupur – Chillakur would change the face of Tirupati district”, he said.
The improved connectivity to Krishnapatnam would greatly help the master plan nodes developed by National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC), connecting Chennai – Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) and the industrial SEZ node near Nellore. The Minister recalled that the MoU with APSRTC was signed in August last year for developing an inter-modal bus terminus in Tirupati, the tender process for which would be completed by this month-end.
Mr. Gadkari was impressed when R&B Secretary P.S. Pradyumna showed him the photo exhibition on the various development projects under way in the State. R&B Minister Dadisetty Raja and Collector K. Venkataramana Reddy were present.
Mr. Gadkari later inaugurated the Swastya hospital built by The Satsang Foundation founded by spiritualist Sri M near Madanapalle.
