Rs 19,000 cr invested on national highways in North-East: Minister Radhakrishnan

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) The government has spent around Rs 19,000 crore in the last two years for strengthening road infrastructure in the north-eastern region of the country, Minster of State for Road Transport and Highways Pon Radhakrishnan said on Thursday.

Out of this, an investment of Rs 14,916 crore was made under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East (SARDP-NE) and Rs 4,095 crore under the National Highway (Original) plan, the minister said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

"The roads under SARDP-NE were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs while the development of highways under NH(O) are taken up on the basis of inter-se priority, traffic volume and availability of funds," he said.