Allocation for highways hiked by 12% to Rs 64,900 crore

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi-Terming roads, railways and rivers as the “lifeline of our country”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday enhanced the allocation for highways sector by 12 per cent to Rs 64,900 crore for 2017-18. Highways sector, which has been one of the priority areas of the government, had a budgetary estimate of Rs 57,976 crore for this fiscal, which was revised to Rs 52,447 crore.

“In the road sector, I have stepped up the Budget allocation for highways from Rs 57,976 crore in BE (budgetary estimate) 2016-17 to Rs 64,900 crore in 2017-18,” Jaitley said while tabling the Budget. “Railways, roads and rivers are the lifeline of our country,” he said. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Budget will give a big boost to infrastructure sector, specially highways.

Presenting the Budget, Jaitley said the total length of roads, including those under PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna), built from 2014-15 till the current year is about 140,000 kms, which is significantly higher than previous three years.