New Delhi, Mar 8 (UNI) The government today informed the Rajya Sabha that widening of the existing 2-lane road to 4-lane from Pathankot to Srinagar on NH-1A had been approved under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase II as part of the North-South Corridor.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K H Muniyappa said the total length of highways under the NHDP Phase II in Jammu and Kashmir is about 437 km.

Out of this, work of four-laning of 113.65 km has been awarded.

The remaining works are ro be awarded by October this year.

Replying to another query, the minister said declaration of new National Highways was not on the priority of his ministry at present.

He also informed that there was no separate provision for allocation of funds for conversion and maintenance of state highways into national highways. ''However, the development of national highways is a continuous process and the same is being carried out in a phased manner on the basis of traffic intensity and availability of funds.'' Mr Muniyappa said the government had taken up specific projects for development of national highways with target date of completion, which includes various phases of the NHDP and the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North-Eastern Region (SARDP-NE).

The minister said the Prime Minister-headed Committee on Infrastructure had approved various phases of the NHDP involving an estimated expenditure of Rs 220,000 crore. Most of these projects are envisaged to be implemented through the Public Private Partnership (PPP).

He said the amount allocated from Central Road Fund for development of national highways during the current financial year was Rs 6407.45 crore.

UNI