It is doubtful whether NH 66 development in Kerala can be completed by the scheduled deadline of 2025-end, since the State government is yet to take a call on waiving GST and royalty for, among others, the 44-km Kundannoor-Angamaly Kochi bypass, and due to the problems in sourcing raw materials like mud.
Key officials associated with the project said that a decision on the waiver for national highway corridors like this that were proposed years ago, was awaited at the ‘highest level’. “The NH 66 that stretched from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod will in all probability be developed by the revised deadline of 2025-end, barring the elevated highway being built in the 13-km Aroor-Thuravur stretch that would get over only by 2026, and a similar elevated structure on the 16-km Aroor-Edappally stretch which is still in the DPR-preparation stage.”
The State government has supposedly not taken a decision on waiving GST and royalty since it is facing acute paucity of funds. In this situation, neither can it give 25% of the land acquisition cost as an alternative measure, for the same reason. Moreover, such funds sharing for highway development is not being done in any other State, they added.
