Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav has said that roads are the lifelines of development. No village, town or city in Madhya Pradesh should remain deprived of better road connectivity. Connecting every village and city through all-weather roads is the state government’s goal. He said that a modern road network is being developed across the state through the construction of state highways, four-lane, six-lane and eight-lane roads, as well as greenfield expressways. This will further strengthen connectivity across Madhya Pradesh.
Chief Minister Dr. Yadav was addressing the 49th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC), held on Thursday at Samatva Bhavan, the Chief Minister’s Residence. He directed departmental officials to accelerate ongoing road construction projects and complete them at the earliest. The Chief Minister said that an extensive road network must be developed across the state and called for coordinated efforts with the Public Works Department, Urban Administration, Rural Development, Industries and Madhya Pradesh Housing Board. He also directed officials to expedite road construction, undertake work on Major District Roads and explore all available possibilities simultaneously.
Chief Minister Dr. Yadav also renamed the proposed Highway Fund of the Corporation. It will now be known as the ‘Viksit Madhya Pradesh Sankalp Path’. Public Works Minister Shri Rakesh Singh was also present at the meeting.
Five Greenfield Corridors in Advanced Planning Stage
The meeting was informed that preparations are underway to develop five greenfield corridors across the state, covering a total length of 1,398 km at an estimated cost of ₹63,296 crore. These will be four-lane, access-controlled greenfield corridors with paved shoulders. The proposed corridors are:
Bhopal–Mandsaur: 258 km
Sagar–Satna: 227 km
Jabalpur–Ashapur: 358 km
Bhopal–Gwalior: 320 km
Katni–Singrauli: 235 km
It was informed that feasibility reports for the Bhopal–Mandsaur, Sagar–Satna and Jabalpur–Ashapur corridors are being prepared by DPR consultants. The consultants have submitted various alignment options, and MPRDC is in the process of selecting the most suitable alignments. For the Bhopal–Gwalior and Katni–Singrauli corridors, the tender process for selecting DPR consultants is underway. The Board of Directors authorised MPRDC to prepare feasibility reports for all five greenfield corridors and, wherever found feasible, proceed with the preparation of their Detailed Project Reports (DPRs).
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Shri Ashok Barnwal; Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, Shri Manish Rastogi; Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development and Housing, Shri Sanjay Kumar Dubey; Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and Public Works Department, Shri Sukhveer Singh; Principal Secretary, Forest, Shri Raghavendra Kumar Singh; Secretary, Public Relations, and Managing Director, MPRDC, Shri Bharat Yadav; Independent Director of MPRDC Shri Venkatesh Balasubramaniam; another Independent Director of the Corporation, Shri Dharmanand Sarangi; and other members.
Key Decisions Approved by the Board
Chief Minister Dr. Yadav approved the following proposals at the meeting:
Permission for 100% divestment of equity in the four-lane Jaora–Nayagaon section project under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme.
Creation of two new posts of Chief Engineer, three of General Manager and five of Deputy General Manager for the smooth functioning of the Corporation.
Enhancement of the honorarium of the Legal Assistant posted in the Corporation.
Acquisition of the Madhya Pradesh Oilseeds Federation building, also known as the PAM Building, at Arera Hills, Bhopal, owned by the Department of Public Asset Management.
Appointment of an Independent Director to the Corporation.
Transfer of ownership of projects to be upgraded through loans, including state highways and other roads, as well as other projects, to the Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation.
Exemption of combine harvesters used for agricultural purposes from toll charges at all toll plazas operated by the Corporation under BOT (Toll), BOT (Toll and Annuity), Operate-Maintain-Transfer (OMT) and user-fee-based schemes.
