Nitin Gadkari asks states to release land acquisition dues worth Rs 25,000 crore

NEW DELHI: Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday asked state governments to release Rs 25,000 crore earmarked for land acquisition to inject liquidity into the markets and speed up highway projects in the country.

“An amount of Rs 25,000 crore is pending with land acquisition officers across the country for distribution,” an official aware of the matter said. “The minister has asked state governments to release this money on a priority basis.”

States, including Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, have pending dues of over Rs 4,500 crore each that needs to be disbursed, officials aware of the matter told ET. Bihar, Karnataka, Rajasthan also have close to Rs 2,000 crore lying unutilised.