The Telangana government has approved revised administrative sanctions for 37 automated vehicle testing stations across the state, raising the sanctioned project expenditure to Rs.425.50 crore and setting out a first phase of 15 stations.
The Transport department issued orders for the project, while the office of Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar communicated the revised financial approval. The stations will conduct vehicle fitness tests using modern technology, according to the details reported by Deccan Chronicle.
The latest sanction increases the approved cost per station from Rs.8 crore to Rs.11.50 crore. The earlier administrative sanction for the project had totalled Rs.296 crore. With the revised approval, the total sanctioned expenditure for all 37 Automated Testing Stations stands at Rs.425.50 crore.
The first phase will involve 15 stations. This phase will include one station at each of the former district headquarters, along with four additional stations in the Greater Hyderabad and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority region.
The government has approved Rs.172.50 crore for the first phase. The allocation represents the revised cost of Rs.11.50 crore for each of the 15 stations planned under this stage. The orders do not specify in the supplied information when construction or operations at the first-phase stations will begin.
Automated Testing Stations are intended to shift vehicle fitness testing towards technology-based assessments. The government’s approval establishes the proposed network and its financing, but the supplied details do not provide information on the testing equipment, operating agency, implementation contracts, timelines or the process vehicle owners will follow once the stations become operational.
The distribution plan places the first phase across former district headquarters and the Greater Hyderabad-HMDA region. This gives the project both a statewide component and a concentrated urban component in and around Hyderabad, where four of the first 15 stations are planned.
The revised administrative sanction is the immediate milestone announced by the Transport department. Further details on station locations, tenders, construction schedules and operational procedures will determine how the approved network is implemented.
