Karnataka govt to lay new rural roads costing Rs 65 lakh per km

The Karnataka government will develop new roads in rural areas at 37.62 km in every Legislative Assembly constituency under two new schemes that are sure to make lawmakers, thirsty for infrastructure, happy.

The government plans to build 8,260 km of roads under the new Pragati Patha and Kalyana Patha schemes. This will cost Rs 6,190 crore, according to the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department.

MLAs, many of whom have been cursing the Congress’ guarantee schemes for eating into the infrastructure budget, will get to choose roads that should be built or upgraded under the new schemes.

“We consider roads as economic corridors. That’s because roads lead to improvement in the economic condition of people,” RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge told DH.

Priyank’s department will ask MLAs to provide information roads that should be taken up for development based on some criteria. “These should be roads connecting large habitations, those that connect the small villages with the big ones and so on,” the minister said.

The Kalyana Patha scheme will cover 38 Assembly constituencies in the backward Kalyana Karnataka region where 1,150 km of roads will be developed at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. This includes Rs 770 crore for development, Rs 92 crore for maintenance and Rs 138 crore for re-asphalting after five years.

The bigger scheme Pragati Patha aims to make 7,110 km of roads in 189 Assembly constituencies at a cost of Rs 5,190 crore. The government wants to borrow 70 per cent, or Rs 3,633 crore, to fund this scheme. The total cost includes Rs 4,621 crore for development and Rs 568.80 crore for a 5-year maintenance.

Under Pragati Patha, the cost per km will work out to ₹65 lakh whereas it is ₹66.9 lakh for Kalyana Patha.

Roads that were laid more than 10 years ago under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and Namma Grama Namma Raste Yojane (NGNRY) will come under Pragati Patha.

“The quality of roads under the new schemes will be better than those laid under PMGSY. For example, we’ll be focusing on soil stabilisation. With wear and tear happening fast, soil stabilisation will improve the longevity of roads. And, longevity is good for the government as it can save costs,” Priyank said.

The government is preparing to float tenders for both the schemes announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his 2024-25 Budget.