Japan to help in upgradation of NHs in M’laya, Mizoram

New Delhi:  For the up-gradation and widening to two-lane with paved shoulder and geometric improvements of National Highways number 54 and 51 in Mizoram and Meghalaya, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has pledged Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of 96,457 million yen.
According to government officials, an interest rate of 1.4 per cent per annum has been fixed for construction works and procurement of goods and services and an interest of 0.01 per cent for consulting services.
Re-payment of the ‘principal’ amount would be made in 20 years time after the disbursement period of 10 years, they added.
It may be mentioned that for better connectivity in the North East region, the Government had taken up various road improvement projects  under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East (SARDP-NE).
In order to expedite road construction in the region, the Government had set up the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited to augment the capacity of the agencies involved in the development and maintenance of NH, officials said.The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways also adopted Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode of contract for major NH works wherethe contractors were required to complete the work within a fixed cost and time. (UNI)