Bhubaneswar: The long-pending coastal highway project between Odisha’s Rameshwar and Paradip is finally set to take off with all formalities nearing completion and the Centre approving the key stretch to be built at a cost of over Rs 8,300 crore.
Odisha’s Works Minister Prithviraj Haarichandan said on Wednesday that the route for the project has been cleared, and construction will start soon after the CCEA gives its approval.
Significantly, the public private partnership appraisal committee (PPPAC) of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has approved this major portion of the ambitious coastal highway from Rameshwar to Digha to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 8,300.79 crore.
Officials said the 160.18 km section from Rameshwar to Paradip of the 346-km greenfield highway will be constructed on hybrid annuity model (HAM) in two packages – four-lane access control carriageway from Rameshwar to Kakatpur and two-lane with paved shoulders from Kakatpur to Paradip.
Accusing the previous government of stalled the highway’s alignment, Harichandan said because of this the project was delayed for years.
Notably, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had to scrap its initial tenders for the segment in May, this yar, after last-minute changes in traffic estimates forced modifications in the design. Though originally planned as a four-lane road, the Kakatpur-Paradip portion was reduced to two lanes. This part of the project has already secured environmental and coastal regulation clearances, and applications for forest clearance are in process.
The proposed highway will include major structures such as 36 large bridges, including a 3.3 km bridge over the Mahanadi, along with 89 minor bridges, 376 culverts, six viaducts, three rail overbridges and 45 vehicle underpasses. Three flyovers are also planned along the route.
The 79.4 km stretch between Rameshwar and Kakatpur is expected to support tourism traffic around Konark, while the Kakatpur-Paradip segment has been designed to improve connectivity to upcoming ports and logistics hubs.
When completed, the highway will reduce the travel distance between Rameshwar and Paradip from 210 km to 160.18 km. The travel time is also projected to drop from the current five and a half hours to about three hours, officials added.
