Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, has written to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy seeking expedited land acquisition to facilitate the completion of pending national highway (NH) projects across the state.

In an official communication, the Union Minister highlighted that Telangana had approximately 2,500 km of national highways built from 1948 to 2014. Since 2014, under the NDA government, an additional 2,500 km has been developed, bringing significant improvements to the state's road infrastructure. Another 2,500 km of highway projects are currently under various stages of development.

The projects in the pipeline include 16 works covering a total length of 691.52 km, with an estimated cost of Rs 126.19 billion. These projects, including the proposed Regional Ring Road (RRR), are in either bidding stages or have already been assigned for execution.

For the completion of these works, a total of 1,550.529 hectares of land is required. However, only 904.097 hectares have so far been handed over to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The remaining 646.432 hectares are yet to be transferred, delaying the commencement of several projects.

The central government has sent multiple communications through the NHAI and the concerned Ministry, requesting the state government to expedite the land acquisition process. Timely acquisition is seen as critical to ensuring that the projects are grounded and completed as per schedule.

The Union Minister, who is also the State BJP president and Secunderabad MP, has called for the personal intervention of the Chief Minister to speed up the process. The development of national highways is considered vital not only for improving connectivity but also for enhancing road safety and fostering socio-economic growth in the region.

News source: The Hindu