In a letter dated June 18 to the Finance Minister the CM has said the Department of Economic Affairs, GOI, had approved three road development projects -- Chikkanayakanahalli-Hassan (Rs 220 crore), Dharwad-Ramnagar near Goa (Rs 193.10 crore) and Aland-Ribbanpalli (Rs 197.20 crore) -- during 2006-07. But the projects have not taken off so far.

Due to the delay, the cost of these projects have gone up. The total cost escalation of all three projects is Rs 130 crore.

“The State Government has already sought the centre to provide the viability gap funding (VGF) to implement the projects. The Centre should accord approval for the revised cost along with the VGF,” the CM stated.

Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited has chalked out plans to develop these roads on the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis under the PPP model.