The high-level empowered committee meeting of the Rebuild Kerala Initiative (RKI), chaired by the Chief Secretary on Sunday, gave renewed administrative approval for various infrastructure development projects in the State. The decision was taken considering the increased tender costs and the renovation requirements of the projects. The meeting suggested that the projects should be taken forward by using existing project savings to meet the costs without putting additional burden on the State exchequer. The meeting was convened to discuss administrative hurdles and cost escalation related to road development, IT services, and natural disaster-resilient infrastructure.
The HLEC has given conditional approval to the Nenmara-Nelliampathy road upgrading project in Palakkad. The project length has been reduced from 30.470 km to 18.10 km due to legal issues, withdrawal of contractors and advice from the financing agency. However, the total cost has increased from ₹105.48 crore to ₹114.13 crore as per the revised cost norms.
