New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS): Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh, on Monday reviewed the progress of highways and roads projects in Jammu and Kashmir.

During the review meeting, the minister asked K.K. Pathak, Managing Director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), to expedite the pending projects on a war footing.

Pathak on his part assured the minister that all the ongoing projects would be completed in a time-bound manner, though some work got hampered due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the timelines had to be extended.

He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allocated more than Rs 1,08,621 crore for Jammu and Kashmir, which is the highest ever budget for J&K, adding that it will help in rebuilding the economy, create jobs and will usher in all-round development for the Union Territory.

The minister also underlined that after August 5, 2019, there has been a visible change in every field, whether related to unfinished projects, implementation of centrally sponsored schemes, and infrastructure development and the security situation.

Pathak also informed Singh that work on most of the 17 highway projects with sanctioned cost of over Rs 15,385 crore is going on smoothly. Out of the 17 approved projects, 12 are in Jammu region, and five are in Kashmir region. Out of 12 such projects, six major projects are being executed in Singh's Lok Sabha constituency of Udhampur-Kathua-Doda which include Chenani-Sudhmahadev Road, Goha-Khellani Package 1 and 2 and Goha-Khellani Package 3 that is Khellani Tunnel and the Khillani-Khanabal Package 2.

In March this year, Singh had met Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari for the allocation of funds to enable timely completion of the proposed Chattergala tunnel, which will connect Kathua with Doda.