New Delhi, Dec. 31 -- The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved road projects worth Rs.20,688 crore, including the country's largest ever highway project under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, a greenfield 374-km Nashik-Solapur-Akkalkot corridor in Maharashtra, a government release said.

Under this public-private partnership (PPP) model, the private player invests the required capital and maintains the infrastructure for a specified period, 20 years in this case. Over this period, the developer recovers the cost through toll levies before transferring ownership to the government.

This greenfield highway would entail a capital expenditure (capex) of Rs.19,142 crore, the release said. The other project approved by the Cabinet is wide...