The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $200 million to rehabilitate and upgrade about 230 kilometers (km) of state highways in India’s Bihar state.
“While the government has been progressively improving carriageway widths of state highways, about 35% of the roads have yet to meet the minimum two-lane standard,” said ADB Transport Specialist Mr. Kai Wei Yeo. “The project will support the government program to upgrade all state highways to at least standard two-lane width and improve road safety while reconstructing, widening, and strengthening culverts and bridges.”
Bihar—India’s third most populous state, with about 104 million inhabitants—has lagged the country’s other states in economic development, but with increased investment in infrastructure and improved governance, the state aspires to grow at a faster rate than the country average. Bihar’s vision, as stated in its road master plan (2015–2035), is good transport accessibility and a high-quality road network.
The State Highways Development Program aims to widen all state highways to two lanes and to improve bridges and district and rural roads. To this end, the Government of Bihar has stepped up investments in improving state highways and major district roads but requires a combination of budgetary support, financial assistance from ADB, bilateral agencies such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and public-private partnerships.
Since 2008, ADB has provided four loans, amounting to $1.43 billion, to upgrade about 1,450 km of state highways and to construct a new bridge over the Ganga River near the state capital, Patna.
The total project cost is $304 million, of which the government will meet $104 million. The estimated completion date is the end of 2022.
Original source: ADB
Published on 16 November 2018
