Road projects worth Rs 73k crore under way in Himachal Pradesh: Union minister Ajay Tamta

Shimla: Union minister of state for road transport and highways, Ajay Tamta, said on Tuesday that the Congress govt in Himachal is making baseless allegations against the central govt, as currently road construction projects worth Rs 73,000 crore are underway in the state.
Tamta, who was in Shimla, mentioned that if any of the projects are stalled in the state, it would be solely due to the current state govt, as it is not providing any kind of governmental clearance, causing central projects worth crores to be stuck. "If the state govt works efficiently, development in Himachal Pradesh will progress rapidly, as the central govt has left no stone unturned for the state," he added.
He informed that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is implementing national highway projects in the state with a total capital cost of approximately Rs 43,000 crore, including the construction of around 768 kilometres of highways and 68 tunnels. The total capital cost for the Parwanoo-Dhali stretch of the national highway is Rs 7,913 crore, Pinjore-Baddi-Nalagarh (Rs 1,692 crore), Kiratpur-Manali (Rs 13,784 crore), Pathankot-Mandi (Rs 10,067 crore), and Shimla-Mataur (Rs 10,512 crore).
Tamta said that as per the state public works department (PWD), the total length of national highways in Himachal is 2,592 km, out of which 1,231 km are assigned to PWD or the road transport and highways ministry's project implementation unit, 792 km to NHAI, and 569 km to the Border Roads Organization (BRO). Currently, 18 projects are underway under the Union road transport and highways ministry's Shimla regional office, he added.
Earlier, during the ‘Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Samman Sabha' organized by the Shimla district unit of the BJP, Tamta said that when Ambedkar passed away, Congress leaders handed the bill for transporting his body via helicopter to his widow. With a narrow-minded approach, Congress consistently tried to suppress Ambedkar's ideas, he added. Tamta also said that BJP has always honoured Ambedkar and in 1990, the BJP-supported govt had awarded the Bharat Ratna to Ambedkar.
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