BHUBANESWAR: Union minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday asserted that the road infrastructure in Odisha will on par with those in the US soon.
Launching highway projects worth Rs 4,173 crore for Odisha here, Gadkari said a state needs world-standard infrastructure like water, power, transport and communication to accelerate development. “While road projects worth Rs 2 lakh crore are in various stages of implementation in Odisha, it will cross Rs 3 lakh crore in the next couple of years. The road infrastructure in Odisha will be on par with the US,” he claimed.
While announcing 13 new highway projects to be constructed in the state at an investment of Rs 9,000 crore, the minister also proposed the Odisha government to start flash charging-based air-conditioned electric bus service between Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri to decongest national highways and ensure faster communication.
Gadkari said, the flash-charging bus service will be piloted in Nagpur soon and after the pilot-phase, it can be introduced on the traffic heavy Cuttack-Puri stretch. “The buses will have a capacity for 135 passengers and features like executive class chairs and air hostess like bus hostess. The fare will be 30 per cent less than that of diesel buses. The flash-charging technology allows it to be charged in just 30 seconds,” he said.
Among the major projects, the minister said, 241 km Odisha portion of the 464 km Raipur-Vizag economic corridor being built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore will be completed by December this year and 150 km Ranchi-Sambalpur highway taken up at Rs 8,000 crore will be ready by December 2028. The much awaited 262 km Cuttack-Sambalpur NH-55 being built at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore will be completed by June, he said.
Expand BBSR-Puri highway to eight-lane: CM to Gadkari
“The capital region ring road is awaiting the nod of the Union cabinet. The project from Rameswar in Khurda district to Tangi in Cuttack district will be executed with an investment of Rs 7,000 crore,” he said.
Apart from this, Gadkari said, 2,230 km of highways worth Rs 75,000 crore for which DPRs have already been prepared will be awarded soon. The projects include six-laning of Bhubaneswar-Puri highway at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore, four-laning of Kanaktora-Telebani NH-49 at Rs 3,500 crore, four-laning of Sohela-Sonepur at Rs 1,600 crore, six-laning of Puintola-Tangi at Rs 1,600 crore and four-laning of Athgarh-Angul highway at Rs 1,000 crore. He urged the state government to expedite land acquisition and forest clearances for these projects.
The minister also sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore under CRF and urged the chief minister to submit proposals at the earliest. He also assured to lay the foundation stone of two bridges to connect Satapada with Krushnaprasad soon as promised during 2024 general elections.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi urged the minister to expand the proposed six-laning of Bhubaneswar-Puri highway to eight-lane with additional service roads and the two-lane coastal highway to four-lane.