Calcutta, Feb. 3: The Bengal cabinet today formally approved the formation of the West Bengal Highways Development Corporation — a company under the public works department that will repair and maintain state highways and other important roads.

The Telegraph had reported on January 5 that the cash-strapped state government was planning to set up the company to woo private investors to maintain roads other than the national highways.

“The chief minister is keen to develop infrastructure in the state. The cabinet today approved the proposal to form the company. It is the first major step towards achieving the goal,” industries minister Partha Chatterjee said at a media conference after the cabinet meeting.

The government will allot Rs 50 crore to the company to start operations. The company will engage private players to maintain the 14 state highways and other crucial roads and also construct new roads.

“Just like the Golden Quadrilateral project, the state government is taking up the golden roads project. The formalities needed to set up the company will be completed at the earliest,” Chatterjee said.

He, however, did not divulge the revenue model the government was planning to offer the private players.

Senior Writers’ Buildings officials said the majority of the state highways and other crucial roads needed to be relaid. The government, which is facing a severe cash crunch, is not in a position to undertake the repair and maintenance work and so it needed to bring in private firms.

“The West Bengal Highways Development Corporation was planned with the aim of getting private partners to construct roads and maintain the existing ones. At the moment, the state’s focus is to repair and maintain the existing roads,” an official said.

According to the proposal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be the chairperson of the company while the PWD secretary will be the managing director.

“The roads that need urgent repairs and maintenance will be handed over to the company initially. The private partners will repair the roads on the build-operate-transfer model. The private companies will be allowed to levy user charges to recover their investments,” the official added.

The officials said the private players would be requested to maintain the less-important roads too.