1,370 km national highways to be upgraded at Rs 13,000 cr

Around 1,370 km of national highways (NHs) in Odisha will be developed into four and six lanes under Phase III, IV and V under the National Highway Development Project (NHDP). The cost of upgradation of the national highways is estimated at around Rs 13,000 crore, sources said.

In the state, total 2,370-km of NHs has been taken up under the NHDP in Phases- I to V. While four laning of 520-km NH has already been completed in Phase-1, 487-km is under construction to be upgraded to four and six lanes at an investment of Rs 4,570-crore, said LP Padhy, head, National Highway Authority of India's (NHIA), regional office (Odisha).

The projects which are under implementation include four lane Bhubaneswar-Puri (67 km in NH 203) at an estimated cost of Rs 500-crore, six-lane Bhubaneswar-Chandikhol (67 km in NH 5) costing around Rs 1,050 crore, four lane Sambalapur-Bargarh (88-km in NH 6)with a cost of Rs 910 crore, four-lane Panikoili-Keionjhar-Rimuli section of NH 215 (166 km) costing around 1,410-crore and four laning of Rimuli-Roxy-Rajamunda section of NH 215 (99-km) to cost around Rs 700-crore.

These ongoing projects are expected to be completed by March, 2015, Padhy said. He was here to inspect the project work from Bhubaneswar to Ichhapuram in Andhra Pradesh. The projects which would be developed under the NHDP in phases III, IV and V include four lane in 112-km Cuttack-Angul, four-lane for 153-km long Angul-Sambalpur, four-lane in Birmitrapur- Barkot (126 km), four-laning of Chandikhol-Duburi- Talcher (133-km), four-laning of Balasore-Baripada-Jharapokaria (80 km) and four laning of Baharagora-Sambalapur Road (80 km).

Similarly, three projects are to be taken up to develop as six-lane highways. These include Balasore-Chandikhol (138 km), Bhubaneswar-Ichhapuram (181 km) and Chandikhol-Paradeep (77 km). All these projects are expected to be taken up soon, he said.