Gandhinagar, April 1 The Gujarat government has approved road resurfacing and quality improvement works worth ₹3,440 crore as part of efforts to improve connectivity in remote villages and make travel safer and faster, a senior cabinet minister said on Wednesday.
Government spokesperson and cabinet minister Jitu Vaghani said the state administration was focused not just on constructing new roads, but also on ensuring their long-term quality maintenance.
"Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has approved ₹3,440 crore for the improvement of non-planned rural roads. In the coming period, resurfacing of around 5,700 km of such roads will be undertaken across the state. A total of 2,342 works across 33 districts have been approved," he told reporters in Gandhinagar.
Around 67 per cent of the state's non-planned roads will be covered under this approval. This will significantly improve connectivity in remote villages and settlements, making road travel safer, faster, and more convenient. Roads that have completed eight years will be included in the next phase, Vaghani informed.
The government is focusing not only on constructing new roads, but also on ensuring their long-term quality maintenance. For this, new systems like Output and Performance-Based Contract (OPRC) and Performance-Based Maintenance Contracts (PBMC) have been introduced, said the minister.
Under OPRC, projects worth over ₹25 crore will be executed with a 10-year contract period (2 years for construction and 8 years for maintenance). Projects worth ₹2 crore to ₹25 crore will fall under PBMC, with a 7-year contract (1 year for resurfacing and 6 years for maintenance), an official release noted.
Vaghani said contractors will now be made payments based on the quality and performance of roads rather than the quantity of work completed. Maintenance responsibilities will include not just the road surface but also drainage, road furniture, signboards, markings, and stones.
Scientific methods and preventive maintenance will increase the lifespan of roads and reduce the need for frequent repairs. Digital monitoring and performance indicators will bring greater transparency and accountability, as per the release.
This decision is expected to reduce long-term lifecycle costs, protect infrastructure investments, and bring down road accidents with pothole-free roads and proper signage, it added.