Karnataka highways project gets WB loan

The Second Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project II (KSHIP II) has got a $350 loan from the World Bank. KSHIP II will cover 25,000km of Karnataka’s most important traffic corridors which the government has identified as the state’s core roads. Among other things, the project will convert about 1,230km of roads into two lane highways. It will also reduce road fatalities and injuries by improving the design of roads and bringing in better traffic management and enforcement. The loan, that has a maturity period of 18 years, will be disbursed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a division of the World Bank. KSHIP II follows KSHIP I which was implemented during 2001-07 and helped improve 2,385km of the state’s roads, reducing commuting time by about 35%.