Reflecting the high priority for road infrastructure in the state, chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday asked World Bank president Jim Young Kim to increase the funding for road projects to USD 500 million (3,000 crore). The state's contribution will be much higher.

Jim Yong Kim called on her at the secretariat. He was here to study Pudhuvazhvu project, an Empowerment and Poverty Reduction initiative of the state government and sponsored by the Bank in Padappai near Chennai.

The preliminary work for phase II of the Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project was over and the project was being appraised shortly, said Jayalalithaa.

"It is proposed to bring in public private partnership (PPP) and leverage private capital in a bigger way in this project," she said, expressing concern that Bank funding for the project may be restricted to only USD 300 million.

Under this project, the highways department has laid 2,867km of roads and prioritised based on economic return (toll). The roads have been identified across the state for development of four lane on PPP model. according to sources. IIT-Madras has done a detailed techno-economic study of the roads, based on which, consultants were engaged for road improvements for about 2,079 kilometer (km) on a priority basis.

"If the Bank funding is restricted, the plan to widen the roads will be a hit. As of now, only 1,000 km long roads can be taken up for development," said a senior highways official associated with the project.

Under the TN Urban Development Project-III, sponsored by the World Bank, the highways department is yet to complete widening and strengthening of Taramani link road project, of the five road projects sanctioned at 167 crore in 2005. World Bank country director Onno Ruhl, who was present on the occasion, promised to take up the issue of additional funding for the road sector project with the Union ministry of finance.

CM assured the Bank that work on the two new projects, the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project and Tamil Nadu Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction would be completed as per schedule, fully achieving the intended objectives.

The Bank has its back office in Chennai for its world-wide operations.