Infrastructure development firm Dilip Buildcon said on Wednesday (24 February) that its subsidiary company is going to undertake four-laning of a highway in Karnataka at a cost of Rs 1,278 crore, reports The Economic Times.

The new highway will be built between Dodaballapur bypass and Hoskote section of NH 648 under Bharatmala Pariyojna on hybrid annuity model.

Dodaballapur Hoskote Highways Pvt Ltd has got the appointed date from the National Highways Authority of India, said the company.

The company said that the completion period of the project is two years and the operation period is 15 years. It is estimated that the cost of operation and maintenance in the first year will be Rs three crore.

Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella program for the highways sector envisaged by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Under Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana, implementation of 34,800 km of national highways in five years (from 2017 to 2022) has been approved at an estimated outlay of Rs 5,35,000 crore.

The primary objective of this plan is to optimise the efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions.

It is noteworthy that recently the central government on 15 January announced the construction of 13 highway projects in Karnataka.

To be built at a cost of Rs 21,000 crore, these projects which boost the infrastructure of the long ignored region of North Karnataka will cover a total of 847 kilometres.

The projects include the construction of a four-lane road in Hubballi-Dharwad bypass and the four-lane ring road in Belagavi.