BHUBANESWAR: The Centre has requested the state government to expedite the land acquisition process as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to award tenders for some of the crucial highway projects in the state within the next one year.
Union road transport and highways secretary Giridhar Aramane, in a letter to chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said the NHAI has recently awarded 125 km length of projects while highway projects of 413 km is likely to be awarded in the 2021-22 financial year. In 2022-23, the NHAI has set a target to award highway projects of 533 km in length.
Some of the key highway projects which are likely to be awarded in the next one year include the Capital Region Ring Road, Tangi-Ratanpur stretch of the coastal highway, six-lane of Chandikhole-Paradip stretch, Keonjhar-Duburi project, Cuttack-Paradip and Sambalpur ring road project, the Union secretary wrote.
Besides, two port connectivity projects like Chhatpur to Gopalpur and Jamujhadi to Dhamra port are also likely to be awarded for implementation by next year.
All these highway projects are proposed under the Centre's Bharatmala Pariyojana and are significant in terms of faster movement of goods and socio-economic development of the respective regions.
Sources in NHAI's Bhubaneswar office said process has already been initiated for land acquisition for the Capital Region Ring Road and the coastal highway project.
The 112-km capital region ring road project will connect Rameswar in Khurda district to Tangi in Cuttack via Govindpur in Dhenkanal, bypassing major towns like Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Athagarh, Cuttack and Choudwar. It plans to reduce traffic load in major towns along National Highway-16. Similarly, the coastal highway has been proposed for seamless and faster movement of goods and explore the tourism potential of the state in coastal areas.
