Jagatsinghpur: Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said that the length of the National Highways in Odisha has more than doubled in the last four years.
The length of the NH which was 4,632 km in 2014 has gone up to 9,426 km in 2018, he said, while addressing a public meeting in Jagatsinghpur. He said the Centre is spending nearly Rs 1 lakh crore on building NHs in the state.
Underscoring the need for a strong transport ecosystem, he said his government is working to strengthen all modes of transport – National Highways, waterways and seaways so that Odisha is able to realize its full potential as a mineral-rich state.
Earlier in the day, the Union minister laid the foundation stone of three NH projects of a total length 132 km, worth Rs 2,345 crore. These include four-laning of the Talcher-Kamakhyanagar section of NH- 200/23, Kamakhyanagar-Duburi section of NH-200 and Duburi-Chandikhole section of NH-200. He also inaugurated port projects worth Rs 431 crore and laid the foundation for six projects worth Rs 3,206 crore at Paradip Port.
Gadkari was accompanied by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan.
Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said NH projects worth more than Rs 6,000 crore have been completed in Odisha. Some of these include four-laning of Sambalpur-Bargarh, Panikoili-Remuili and Bhubaneswar-Puri NH, six-laning of Bhubaneswar-Chandikhol NH, construction of four lanes NH up to Jharsuguda town, construction/ strengthening of bridges on NH-57, NH 59 and some other highways.
Stating that several other projects worth more than Rs 4,500 crore are scheduled for completion this year, Gadkari said about 1,645 km of NH worth Rs 30,000 crore are envisaged under Bharatmala, including 93 km of ring roads around major towns. DPRs for these are being prepared, he said.
Talking about projects like the Coastal Highway, the second bridge over Brahmani in Rourkela and some other projects, which are stuck due to issues like land acquisition, forest and environment clearance etc. he called upon the state government to extend cooperation in getting the necessary clearances.
The Union minister also announced that a 262 km long waterway, combining Mahanadi and Brahmani will be developed from Karimnagar to Dhamra and Paradip at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore. This waterway will carry 200 lakh tonne of cargo and be a game changer for the state. It will give a boost to coal, iron and steel and other industries in Odisha and create huge employment opportunities for the local population.
Talking about port-led industrialization in the state, Gadkari said that 34 projects worth Rs 20,000 crore have been identified for Odisha under Sagarmala.
The capacity and efficiency of Paradip Port is rising continuously. This will bring a lot of prosperity to the state, he pointed out.
