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The PM has been repeatedly stressing on timely completion of key projects in the past. (PTI)
“The Prime Minister has directed all stakeholders concerned to adhere to the timelines of the projects to avoid time and cost overruns,” say the minutes of the meeting reviewed by News18
The key Mumbai Urban Transport Project Phase-3 that could resolve the city’s suburban rail transport woes and the North-East Gas Grid project, which will connect all eight north-eastern states, were among the nine big projects worth Rs 59,000 crore reviewed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a fortnight ago.
“The Prime Minister has directed all stakeholders concerned to adhere to the timelines of the projects to avoid time and cost overruns,” say the minutes of the meeting reviewed by News18.
The PM has been repeatedly stressing on timely completion of key projects in the past.
In December last year, the government embarked on an exercise to monitor the progress of nearly 1,700 big central infrastructure projects in order to help flag those, which may not be completed in time and have cost overruns.
THE NINE PROJECTS
Top on the review list was the progress of the Rs 11,000-crore MUTP-3, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet in 2016. It is expected to reduce crowding in Mumbai’s suburban trains during peak hours, as over eight million people travel in the suburban section in more than 2,900 train services daily.
The phase includes a new suburban corridor between Panvel and Karjat (28 km), new elevated corridor between Airoli and Kalwa (3 km), quadrupling of Virar-Dahanu Road (63 km) and procurement of 565 new coaches and trespass control measures.
Another major infrastructure project reviewed was the ambitious North-East Gas Grid Project that involves building a 1,656-km gas pipeline grid which would connect all eight north-eastern states and aims to remove the regional imbalance within India regarding access to natural gas. This project was approved in 2018 with a completion target of 2024. The central government is directly funding this pipeline with Rs 5,559 crore.
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Other important projects reviewed by the PM were the Raipur-Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor, Rs 20,000-crore greenfield road project, which at 464 km will link Chhattisgarh with Andhra Pradesh, improve freight movement and contribute to exports.
The PM also reviewed the progress of the 391-km natural gas pipeline from Kakinada-Visakhapatnam-Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh, another key gas pipeline project in the works.
The PM also reviewed the Sulwade Jamphal Kanoli Lift Irrigation Scheme in Maharashtra whose completion date was the end of 2020. The barrage is to come up in the Tapi basin in Dhule district. The Patratu Super Thermal Power Project in Jharkhand, whose foundation stone was laid by the PM in 2018, also came up for review. The first unit of this project was expected to be commissioned this year.
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Aman Sharma, Senior Editor (Politics), at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has nearly two decades of experience in covering the wide s ...Read More