NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday approved two national highway (NH) projects, one each in Maharashtra and Odisha, worth Rs 20,688 crore. These approvals will pave the way for the construction of Nashik-Solapur-Akkalkot Corridor and widening of NH-326 in Odisha.
For Maharashtra, the Greenfield project has been approved with a total outlay of Rs 19,142 crore, while Rs 1,562 crore has been allocated for the widening of NH- 326 in Odisha.
Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while briefing media after the meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The approved projects are a significant step in the direction of providing integrated transport infrastructure under the PM Gatishakti National Master Plan principle.”
The Maharashtra project will provide connectivity to important regional cities such as Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Solapur connecting to Kurnool and the widening of the road in Odisha is aimed at improving road safety, reducing travel time and enhancing connectivity in the southern part of the state, the Minister noted.
The greenfield corridor from Nashik to Akkalkot is proposed to be connected to Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near Wadhawan port interchange, Agra-Mumbai corridor at Nashik with NH-60 (Adegaon) and Samruddhi Mahamarg at Pangri (near Nashik).
According to an official statement, the proposed corridor will provide connectivity from west coast to east coast. From Chennai port end, 4-lane corridors are already in progress from Chennai to Hasapur (MH Border) via Thiruvallur, Renigunta, Kadappa and Kurnool (700 km long).
The primary purpose of the proposed access-controlled six-lane greenfield project corridor is to improve travel efficiency and is expected to reduce travel time by 17 hours and reduce the travel distance by 201 km.
Meanwhile, the road widening project in Odisha is aimed at upgrading the existing two-lane highway to a two-lane road with paved shoulders covering the Mohana–Koraput section of NH-326. The work will be implemented under the National Highways (Original) scheme on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode.
According to the Cabinet decision, the project includes a civil construction cost of Rs 966.79 crore and is aimed at improving road safety, reducing travel time and enhancing connectivity in southern Odisha.
At present, the Mohana–Koraput stretch suffers from sub-standard road geometry, sharp curves, steep gradients and inadequate carriageway width, which restrict safe movement of heavy vehicles and increase logistics costs.
The approved upgrade will address these deficiencies through geometric corrections, pavement strengthening and removal of accident-prone black spots.