NEW DELHI: Driving on 33 stretches on national highway will be safer and better soon. The government is readying to convert single lane highways to double lane highways in six states. The ministry of road transport is aiming to award these highways by February 2010.

These single lane national highways battling congested traffic will soon be converted to double lanes. The road transport and highways Ministry has an elaborate plan of developing national highways into corridors utilising the $2.97 billion World Bank loan approved in principal by finance ministry and funds allocated in the budget. India has over 19,000 km of single lane highways which needs to be developed into double lane highways.

The ministry has identified 33 stretches in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Chattisgarh. Each project costs at least Rs 15 crore. In the first phase, the ministry will award contracts for 3769 km of highways. The ministry is aiming to award these projects by February 2010. Apart from this, ministry is planning to award 713 km of projects worth Rs 1,460 crore to bridge the gap between two developed stretches on a national highway.

Minister for Road Transport Kamal Nath has set ambitious target of developing 20 km in a day but his pet projects like expressways and mega projects are struggling to see the light of the day. Transport Secretary Brahm Dutt said the ministry is working on issues like land acquisition and is confident to award the long pending 1000 km long four expressway projects by December 2010.