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Saturday, January 2, 1999 Published at 16:43 GMT

World: South Asia

India kick-starts motorway project

India's crowded roads are in need of updating

The Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, has laid the foundation stone for an express highway project to provide a six-lane high-speed road across the country.

The estimated cost of the ambitious 7,000km National Highway Project is put at $6.5bn.

Speaking at the foundation ceremony in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, Mr Vajpayee said the government would seek foreign and private investment for the project.

"It is the longest and hardest infrastructure project undertaken in independent India," Mr Vajpayee said.

[ image: Mr Vajpayee:
Mr Vajpayee: "The longest and hardest infrastructure project"
Estimated to be under construction for about 10 years, the roads will cut two swathes across the vast country.

The early stages of the project involve a road from Bangalore to neighbouring Tamil Nadu state.

This is being funded by a loan from the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).

And last year, over $4bn was raised via a foreign currency bond issued to expatriate Indians.

The instrument - called the Resurgent India Bond - was issued after the United States imposed economic sanctions in response to India's nuclear tests in May in 1998.