Around 15,000 km of state highways and district roads will be upgraded under various state and Central government-sponsored schemes.

Speaking at the launch of phase-2 of the State Highway Development Project on Thursday, Public Works Minister H C Mahadevappa said that the work will commence from January. He added that  the Union government had recently sanctioned Rs 1,800 crore, under the Central Road Fund, to the State to upgrade district roads.

The government will upgrade 1,200 km of state highways through the Karnataka Road Development Corporation and another 1,000 km under the Karnataka State Highway Improvement Programme.

Besides, 3,745 km of district roads will be upgraded under the SHDP phase-2 in 70 packages at a cost of Rs 1,498 crore, he said. Tenders had been finalised for 62 packages. Mahadaveppa said 2,000 km under the project will be completed by the end of next year. “Come January, a total of 15,000 km of roads will be upgraded and Rs 7,000 crore utilised for the purpose,” he said.

Priority will be given to district-to-district connectivity under SHDP phase-2, he said and added that taluk-hobli connectivity would be taken up in the next phase. The State government had also sent proposals to the Centre to convert 4,000 km of state highways to national highways. 

The government had released Rs 100 crore for the filling of potholes, he added.