Telangana seeks faster clearances from Centre for road projects

Hyderabad: The state government has urged the Centre to expedite approvals for pending national highway projects, the Hyderabad Regional Ring Road (RRR), and the speedy completion of Warangal airport project. A delegation led by roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy met Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari and Union civil aviation minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu in Delhi on Tuesday to discuss the pending projects.

The delegation, comprising MPs Kunduru Jaiveer Reddy, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, and senior R&B officials, submitted representations seeking faster clearances and funding from the Centre for various infrastructure projects.

Venkat Reddy briefed Gadkari on the status of the Northern and Southern sections of the RRR. He highlighted the extension of tender dates for the northern section from February 14 to March 20 for a project worth Rs 7,100 crore.

The delegation sought approvals from the public private partnership appraisal committee (PPPAC) and the Cabinet, as well as financial tripartite agreements and forest permissions. They requested final approval for the alignment of the southern section, connecting Choutuppal and Sangareddy on National Highway 65, via Amangal, and Shadnagar.

The delegation also proposed constructing a 62-km elevated corridor on the 187 km Hyderabad-Srisailam (NH-765) highway. The project has been delayed due to the need for clearance from the Amrabad tiger reserve.

The public works department completed the survey on June 27, 2024, and submitted it to the ministry of road transport and highways. The delegation sought fast-tracked forest clearance approvals and mentioned that a Parivesh-2.0 application for forest clearance was submitted on December 17, 2024. Approval for Somasila cable bridge tenders was also requested.

The delegation sought approval for five ropeway projects under the Parvatmala scheme. The proposed projects include Yadagirigutta Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple (2 km), Bhongir Fort (1 km), Hanumankonda in Nalgonda (2 km), Nagarjunasagar dam to Nagarjuna Konda (5 km) and Ramagiri fort in Manthani (2 km).

Venkat Reddy reminded Gadkari of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy's letter dated June 26, 2024, seeking approval for 12 road projects worth ₹887.45 crore under the CRIF-Setu Bandhan Scheme. As the approvals remained pending, the minister submitted another request letter during the meeting.

The delegation urged the Centre to approve the six-lane expansion of NH-65 (Hyderabad-Vijayawada), citing its importance as a key link between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The delegation requested an expedited approval process and completion of the detailed project report (DPR). Additionally, they sought fast-tracking of the four-lane construction on NH-163 (Hyderabad-Manneguda road).

Venkat Reddy thanked Union aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu for approving the Mamnoor airport project in Warangal. He informed the minister that ₹205 crore had been sanctioned for land acquisition, and Naidu assured that efforts were underway to complete the project at the earliest.

Naidu assured that the airport would be completed within 2.5 years and that an IMD survey and feasibility study would soon be conducted for the Bhadradri Kothagudem airport.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will conduct surveys for new airports at Jakranpally (Nizamabad), Adilabad, and Peddapalli. Venkat Reddy informed that land acquisition for Mamnoor airport would be completed within 15 days.