BHUBANESWAR: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari for sanctioning Rs 174.215 crore for expansion of the National Highway-53 in Angul district.
Pradhan’s response came after Gadkari informed about the project in social media. “A project has been approved to widen and strengthen existing SL, IL & DL to 2-Lane with a paved shoulder in the selected stretches including 3 bypasses at Rengali, Bajrakot & Takua on NH-53 in Angul district in the state of Odisha with a budget of Rs 174.215 crore,” tweeted Gadkari.
He said this highway connects the major industrial and mining corridors in the state with Paradeep port.
Widening and strengthening of the selected missing stretches and construction of bypasses will enable speed mobility to ensure more safety for road users.
Further, the stretch will facilitate the smooth movement of heavy vehicles and boost the socio-economic development in this industrial corridor, which consists of large companies including Coal India, NTPC and Jindal Steel. Pradhan said widening of NH-53 will make traffic movement between Angul and Sambalpur an easy affair and help in achieving socio- economic development of the two districts.