MUMBAI: Public works minister Chandrakant Patil, while speaking in the 79th Indian Road Congress event held in Nagpur on Friday, said that the state has received Rs 1.6 lakh crore for road works from the state and central government in the last four years. Mr. Patil claimed that all the road projects, once completed, would change the picture of Maharashtra.

“There were 52,000 kilometres of roads in Maharashtra in 1960 when the state was formed which has now increased to 2.76 lakh kilometres.

The PWD budget has increased from Rs 1,700 crore four years ago to Rs 6,000 crore now thanks to the efforts of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis,” Mr Patil said.

According to him, the financial support of Rs 6,000 crore and assistance from Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, the state has got Rs 1.6 lakh crore for road projects and work in the past four years.

He even stated that a whopping Rs 30,000 crore worth of road works has been facilitated under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM).

“The HAM concept was earlier criticised as not being viable but projects under it had now attracted bidders in 130 out of 137 projects,” he added.

As per this model, 40 per cent of the capital cost quoted would be paid on completion of construction while the remaining 60 per cent of the cost will be paid over the life of the project as annuities along with operation and maintenance cost (O&M) expenses.