Kovai associations appeal to implement Eastern bypass road, Coimbatore–Karur Expressway
Rs 7,500-cr project mooted in 2016 covering a distance of around 200 km in 3 west dists
Coimbatore–Karur Green Field highway (X)
COIMBATORE: Many trade and industrial bodies in Coimbatore have appealed to the Union government to implement Coimbatore Eastern bypass road and Coimbatore–Karur Expressway to further boost the growth of Western Tamil Nadu.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to implement both the projects, clubbed together and mooted in 2016, for a distance of around 200 kms at an outlay of Rs 7,500 crore in Coimbatore, Tirupur and Karur districts. A feasibility study was prepared in 2018. However, an approval for the project from the executive committee of NHAI Headquarters, New Delhi, has been pending for more than four years.
While demanding to delink the Coimbatore Eastern bypass road and approve this project in phase one, which is estimated to cost Rs 3,945 crore as per the DPR report, the trade and industrial sector has said the Coimbatore Eastern bypass road proposed for a distance of 81 km from Narasimhanaickenpalayam to Kaniyur and further till Madukkarai will link all the six major National Highways in Coimbatore.
“This project is expected to completely change the land use pattern with new high rise buildings for software parks, residential areas, and shopping malls,” said Vanitha Mohan, vice chairperson of Kongu Global Forum, in a petition to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.
Echoing a similar view, Rajesh B Lund, president of The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) said the new industrial zones, foundry clusters, and textile units will benefit along this new Greenfield by-pass road.
“In phase two, the Karur and Coimbatore Green Field highway which is planned to be laid for 120 km could help the people reach their destinations in a maximum of one and a half hours,” he said, in a separate representation to the Union Minister.
This critical infrastructure project is essential for the development of Western Tamil Nadu region, which has contributed 30 per cent to the state GDP in the last financial year, when a sum of Rs1 lakh crore worth of goods and services were exported, claimed Mithun Ramdas, president of The Southern India Engineering Manufacturers Association (SIEMA).Rs 7,500-cr project mooted in 2016 covering a distance of around 200 km in 3 west dists