The 42-km Thiruvananthapuram City Road Improvement Project (TCRIP) was showcased in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Forum of the United Nations Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE) held in Switzerland.
The TCRIP was one of the 12 PPP projects picked globally to be featured at the three-day UNECE Forum. The project was supervised by the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) and was selected for its good governance and for achieving sustainable development goals.
The ₹ 450 crore project, is perhaps the first PPP project in the country for urban infrastructure development and also happens to be one of the five iconic projects by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL & FS).
The massive project that was first rolled out in 2004 faced many roadblocks and finally completed last month. The undertaking by IL&FS to develop 42.06 kilometres of city road was executed in four phases. The improvement plan included widening of the road, strengthening the surface, correcting vertical and geometric profiles, providing drainage facilities, enhancing pedestrian lines, installing solar powered and GPS enabled traffic systems, improving street lighting systems, landscaping and planting of trees along the highway.
Kerala Road Fund Board has granted the project to a consortium of IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd and Punj Lloyd Ltd.