NEW DELHI: The road transport and highways ministry on Monday gave ‘in principle’ nod for the 340 km ‘Regional Ring Road’ (RRR) around Hyderabad, which will connect all districts of Telangana with the state capital. The RRR, a four-lane access-controlled highway will cost Rs 16,000 crore. This will be the longest bypass in India.
Announcing the decision at Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s home, junior home minister G Kishan Reddy said, “Gadkariji has assured us the road will be built in three years once state acquires land. We are urging state government to take proactive steps to fast-track it for development of Telangana.”
In November 2016, the highways ministry had given ‘in principle’ nod for declaring the two parts of RRR – northern and southern — as national highway. Monday’s decision has now paved the way for land acquisition and preparatory work.
The RRR is to be taken up in two parts. The northern part of 158 km, connecting Sangareddy, Narasapur, Toopran, Gajwel, Yadadri, Pragnapur, Bhongir and Choutuppal will be taken up at a tentative cost of Rs 7,560 crore. It will be totally funded by the Centre and another Rs 1,961 crore will be spent for land acquisition. The state government has agreed to bear 50% of the land acquisition and pre-construction cost.
“We sought Gadkariji’s help to approve the second arm of the RRR (182 km) covering the southern part connecting Choutuppal, Ibrahimpatnam, Kandukur, Amangal, Chevella, Shankarpally and Sangareddy. He has immediately given his consent for the project expected to cost Rs 4,322 crore and Rs 1,748 crore for land acquisition,” Reddy said.
Once the RRR is operational, highway traffic heading towards Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Bengaluru, Delhi can get diverted onto this access-controlled road and hence will reduce congestion and pollution in Hyderabad and Cyberabad.
