Funding tap open, enhanced outlay of Rs 1.18 lakh crore for highways sector

The Union Budget for 2021-22 announced a lavish outlay of Rs 1.18 lakh crore for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and several flagship economic corridors, including in the election-bound states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Assam.

“I am…providing an enhanced outlay of Rs 1,18,101 lakh crore for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, of which Rs 1,08,230 crore is for capital, the highest ever,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech on Monday.

Tamil Nadu will get 3,500 km of national highway works at an investment of Rs 1.03 lakh crore, including the Madurai-Kollam and Chittoor-Thatchur corridors. Construction will start next year.