The State government will upgrade 2,245 km of rural roads at a cost of Rs 1,033 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H K Patil said on Friday that tenders for the project would be called on Saturday and work would commence in February next year.
The Centre will bear 75 per cent of the cost and the remainder will be borne by the State government. The roads have been identified based on the recommendation of zilla panchayats, legislators and technical teams on connectivity. The roads would be upgraded to meet the standards of major district roads, Patil said.
In all, 16,058 km of rural roads had been upgraded under PMGSY in the last 13 years, he said. The minister said the State government had released Rs 109 crore for maintenance of rural roads.
The funds would be utilised for repair and development of roads in 180 Assembly segments in the rural pockets. Task forces headed by jurisdictional legislators, with elected representatives of local bodies as its members, had been set up for utilisation of the funds, Patil said.
He said Public Works Minister H C Mahadevappa and himself had recently called on Union Surface Transport Minister Oscar Fernandes and urged him to give more priority to rural roads.
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