BHUBANESWAR: The Centre has sanctioned Rs 822.62 crore for the expansion and strengthening of two national highways going through Odisha.
In a series of tweets on Saturday, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said Rs 636.1 crore has been sanctioned for NH-20 and Rs 186.52 crore for NH-326. The sanctioned amount for NH-20 will be utilised for land acquisition, expansion, and strengthening of the two-lane highway to four-lane with paved shoulders between Kuakhia and Mangalpur in Jajpur district.
Similarly, the expansion of the Dhaugaon to Podamari stretch of two-lane NH-326 will be carried out along with the paved shoulder works. NH-326 starts from its junction with NH-59 near Aska connecting Rayagada, Koraput, Jeypore, Malkangiri, and Motu in Odisha and terminating on NH-30 near Chinturu in Andhra Pradesh.
Last month, the Ministry had sanctioned Rs 499.79 crore for the development of a section of NH-55 from Cuttack to Jagatsinghpur district. The fund will be utilised for widening and strengthening two lanes of the highway from Kandarpur in Cuttack to Balikuda in Jagatsinghpur section.
In September 2021, the Centre had approved six-laning of Baunsaguar-Baraja section of NH-130 under Raipur-Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor with the sanction of Rs 1,265.59 crore.