Road infrastructure worth Rs 10,000 crore will be set up in Assam in the next five years under Asom Mala 4.0 project, state Finance Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah informed while presenting the State Budget in the Assam Legislative Assembly on Friday.
“Alongside the transformative investments being made in the power sector, our Government also proposes other major projects to strengthen Assam’s infrastructure backbone and accelerate economic growth,” the Finance Minister said.
“Building on Asom Mala 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, under which projects worth over Rs 20,000 crore have been taken up, we propose to introduce Asom Mala 4.0. This new phase will leverage State’s own resources, EAP, PPP, RIDF and NIDA to create another 800 km of high-quality 14 road infrastructure over the next five years, with an estimated expenditure of Rs.10,000 crore,” Mallabaruah said.
He further informed that in partnership with the Government of India, work is progressing on transformational infrastructure projects involving investments of over Rs 55,000 crore, including the Guwahati Ring Road (Rs 4,954 crore), Greenfield Silchar High Speed Corridor (Rs 22,864 crore), Kaziranga Elevated Corridor (Rs 6,957 crore) and the Gohpur-Numaligarh Brahmaputra Tunnel (Rs 18,662 crore).
“The Silchar High Speed Corridor will reduce Guwahati-Silchar travel time from around 8 hours 30 minutes to nearly 5 hours. We are also working closely with the Government of India on three critical connectivity projects: four-laning of Baihata Chariali-Mission Chariali, Tezpur (Rs.13,812 crore); an elevated corridor from Guwahati Airport to Jalukbari (Rs 3,423 crore); and a new bridge across Brahmaputra connecting Morigaon and Darrang. These projects will significantly improve regional connectivity, reduce congestion and support faster movement of people and goods,” the Finance Minister said.
“As futuristic projects, the Government of India will take forward alignment and project preparation for the Barapani-Guwahati and Guwahati-Siliguri access controlled corridors. The Government of Assam will also 15 prepare DPRs for access-controlled road projects to ensure that Assam is ready for the next generation of high-speed connectivity,” he said.
“During this period, we will witness major progress in bridge connectivity across Assam. The Majuli-Jorhat Bridge (Rs 1,400 crore), including approach roads, will provide seamless all-weather connectivity between Majuli and the mainland and is expected to complete by December 2027,” Mallabaruah said.
“We will also complete major bridge projects such as the Palashbari-Sualkuchi Bridge (Rs 3,197 crore) and Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge (Rs 4,997 crore). The Palashbari-Sualkuchi Bridge has already achieved 49 percent physical progress, while the Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge has achieved over 77 percent progress and will reduce travel between Dhubri and Phulbari from 260 km to just 20 km,” he said.
“A new bridge over the Barak at Gandhighat connecting Madhuramukh with Silchar town has also been sanctioned under Setu Bandhan. We will continue to work towards the vision of ensuring a Brahmaputra bridge for every district,” he said in his Budget speech.
Assam to invest rs 10,000 cr to build additional 800 km of high-quality roads in next 5 years: minister
