Eight Infrastructure Projects PM Modi Reviewed In Last PRAGATI Meet And Ordered For Timely Completion

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the meeting of the 40th edition of PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation), has instructed all stakeholders to ensure timely completion of eight infrastructure projects having a cumulative cost of over Rs 59,900 crore.

"The Prime Minister has directed all stakeholders concerned to adhere to the timelines of the projects to avoid time and cost overruns," said the minutes of the meeting reviewed by News18.

Cost overruns and delays in completion are serious problems plaguing a large number of infrastructure projects in the country.

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which monitors infrastructure projects involving an investment of Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,579 projects, 425 projects reported cost overruns and as many as 664 projects were delayed.

According to a report, these 425 projects have reported cost overruns of more than Rs 4.83 lakh crore. The number is significant given the competing claims on resources in a developing country like India.

The eight projects reviewed by the Prime Minister are the Mumbai Urban Transport Project Phase-3, four-laning of the Melur-Karaikudi section of NH, Ginigera-Raichur New Broad Gauge line, the North East Gas Grid Project, the Raipur-Vishakhapatnam Economic Corridor, the Sulwade-Jamphal-Kanoli Lift Irrigation Scheme, the Kakinada-Srikakulam Natural Gas Pipeline Project, and the Patratu Super Thermal Power Project.

Mumbai Urban Transport Project Phase-3

In Mumbai, approximately 8 million people travel daily on the suburban railways in more than 2,900 train services. There is severe overcrowding in the suburban trains, especially during peak hours.

To meet the demands of the ever growing commuter traffic, a new suburban corridor between Panvel-Karjat (28 route km), a new elevated corridor between Airoli-Kalwa (3 route km ), quadrupling of Virar-Dahanu Road (63 route km), procurement of 565 new coaches and trespass control measures in mid sections have been taken up under Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) Phase-3.

The Union cabinet approved MUTP phase-3 in November 2016 with a completion cost of Rs 10,947 crore.

Under this project, gas pipeline grid would be developed in the eight states of the North-Eastern region, ie, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

The total length of the pipeline to be made available under the North East Gas Grid is 1,656 km, and its tentative project cost is Rs 9,265 crore.

Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL), a joint venture company of five Central Public Sector Enterprises (IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL and NRL), was incorporated in 2018 to develop and operate natural gas pipeline grid in the north-eastern region.

Raipur-Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor

It is a 464-km-long expressway passing through Chhattisgarh, Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh, connecting the port city of Visakhapatnam with industrial centre Raipur.

The alignment of this corridor is Raipur-Kurud-Umerkote-Sunabeda-Salur-Visakhapatnam.

This economic corridor starts from Abhanpur near Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and ends at Sabbavaram near Vizag in Andhra Pradesh. The entire stretch is a greenfield alignment passing through the states of Chhattisgarh (124 km), Odisha (240 km) and Andhra Pradesh (100 km).

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Raipur-Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor is targeted for completion by 2024-25.

It is estimated to cost Rs 20,000 crore. When complete, the distance from Raipur to Vizag will reduce from 590 km to 464 km and travel time from 14 hours to about seven hours.

Sulwade-Jamphal-Kanoli Lift Irrigation Scheme

In February 2019, Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone of the Sulwade-Jamphal-Kanoli Lift Irrigation Scheme in Maharashtra.

This scheme envisages lifting 9.24 TMC of flood water from river Tapi in 124 days of monsoon season. It is proposed to irrigate 33,367 hectares of about 100 villages in the Dhule district.

Kakinada-Srikakulam Natural Gas Pipeline Project

The project involves laying a 391-km-long natural gas pipeline from Kakinada to Srikakulam via Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

It is an extension to the 667km long Kakinada–Vijayawada–Nellore pipeline.

Patratu Super Thermal Power Project

The first phase of NTPC's Patratu Super Thermal Power Project in Jharkhand involves building a 2,400 MW power generation capacity.

The project is a 74:26 joint venture between the government of Jharkhand and Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (PVUN), a subsidiary company of NTPC, establishing a total capacity expansion of 4,000 MW.

PVUNL is developing the project in two phases: 2,400 MW (3x800MW) in Phase-I and 1,600 MW (2x800 MW) in Phase-II, which will be developed later.

This project will allocate 85 per cent of the power to Jharkhand, which will benefit the state in the long run and help the region's economic growth.

The salient features of this project are a dry ash disposal system, zero liquid discharge system, air-cooled condenser technology and rail loading facility for transportation of ash.

Four-Laning Of Melur-Karaikudi Highway

This project involves building a four-lane divided highway from Melur to Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu. The estimated project cost for this 45.8 km long highway is Rs 767.59 crore.

Ginigera-Raichur New Broad Gauge line

The 165-km-long rail line was sanctioned in 2007-08 as part of the 247 km long Mahabubnagar (Telangana)-Munirabad (Karnataka) railway line.

When complete, it would reduce the distance between Hyderabad and Goa via Hubli by over 100 km.