Dilip Kumar Jha / Mumbai August 22, 2008, 3:33 IST Miners in eastern India, especially within a radius of 200 km from the Orissa and Jharkhand borders have decided to build a road more than 600 km long, with an estimated expenditure of Rs 300 crore. Approximately, 80 per cent of mines in the two states are in this area. The miners are in the process of forming a separate body to execute this project, which has been initially funded by small contributions from each miner. The body would also organise further funds for the project. According to an industry source, a number of banks have evinced interest to partly fund the construction. Once the road has been completed, in approximately 3-4 years, the body would also collect a toll tax. FOR A SMOOTH RIDE # The road will be 600-km long and will be built by miners withinj a radius of 200 km from the borders of Orissa and Jharkhand borders # The miners are forming a separate body to execute the project, which has been initially funded by small contributions from each miner # Truckers have been refusing to ply in the mining areas citing poor road conditions, especially in the monsoon season The initiative is significant as truckers, especially in the monsoon season, refuse to ply in the mining areas citing poor road conditions. This results in inventory pile-ups at mines on the one hand, and raw material shortage at the steel units on the other. This also results in an almost complete halt of export shipments during the monsoon. The road which exists now requires heavy investment for maintenance every year. With heavy trucks plying on them, heavy maintenance is required every year. Bad roads mean greater depreciation of trucks, extra fuel consumption and more transportation time. "This initiative would not only save these extravagances but also enthuse miners to raise mining capacity to capture exports markets such as China,' Ghanashyam Das Agarwal, chairman of Adhunik Metaliks, an Orissa-based manganese ore miner and exporter. This would also increase the government's royalty on mining, he added.