Govt Allocates ₹3,000 Crore for Statewide Road Network

Visakhapatnam: The Andhra Pradesh government has announced a major road infrastructure initiative, allocating ₹ 3,000 crore to develop 10,500 kilometres of roads across the state.

M.T. Krishnababu, special chief secretary of the transport, roads, and buildings department, announced these details during a press conference at Anakapalli on Friday.

Krishnababu outlined the progress of road works, stating Anakapalli has sanctioned 38 road projects worth `113 crore, with tenders already completed for 22 of these works. The remaining projects are in the tendering phase, and all works are expected to be completed by June.

Major key corridors, including Addaroad-Narsipatnam, Bheemili-Narsipatnam, and Vaddadi-Paderu, will be among the major routes improved under the initiative. Additionally, 62 kilometres of road works undertaken with ` 130 crore under the National Development Programme (NDP) scheme are on track for completion by March.

Krishna Babu further stated that the government has also taken steps to address payment delays affecting contractors. He said, `60 crore has already been disbursed, with the process underway to clear the remaining `70 crore in outstanding dues."

He also announced plans to upgrade important rural roads to national highway standards using the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, particularly those experiencing heavy vehicle traffic.

To address the problem of overloaded trucks damaging roads, the government will install automatic load inspection machines at toll gates starting in February. These will be integrated with the real-time gross settlement system to electronically levy fines, he said.