Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that construction of two important national highway projects will start soon in Odisha: ‘ Coastal Highway’ and ‘Capital Region Ring Road’.
A four-lane coastal highway will be built from Ratanpur to Rameswar, Ratanpur to Digha, and Jamujhadi to Dhamra. The highway will be 413 km long and will have four lanes. The project, part of the Bharatmala initiative, will cost Rs 23,882 crore. Pradhan said that the detailed project report (DPR) and necessary approvals are about to be completed.
“Construction of The coastal highway will start soon. It will be a game changer in the social and economic development of eastern India, including Odisha, in realizing the Prime Minister’s ‘Purvodaya’ dream. There will be a new sunrise on the roads in Odisha,” the Prime Minister said.
The Purvodaya scheme is being promoted for the all-round development of five states of the eastern region—Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh.
On the Capital Region Ring Road project, Pradhan emphasized on the Modi government’s transport and road infrastructure. The 111-km project, sanctioned under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, will be built at a cost of Rs 6,092 crore.
The proposed six-lane ring road project linking Khurda, Bhubaneswar, and Cuttack under the Purvodaya scheme will prove to be crucial in Odisha’s communication sector, the New Indian Express reported.
The ring road project has made little progress and the coastal highway project has been delayed, but Pradhan’s announcement signals a renewed push to develop this crucial infrastructure in the state.