Bhubaneswar: Maintaining that for faster growth in Odisha, the Narendra Modi Government has invested 85,000 crore in roads, Union Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday claimed that the length of National Highways in Odisha has doubled in the last four years, increasing from 4,632 km in 2014 to 9,426 km in 2018.
Gadkari was speaking in a public meeting at Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal district after launching several NH projects.
Gadkari visited the State today to lay foundation stone for three NH projects of 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.
The Union Minister also inaugurated port projects worth Rs 431 crore and laid 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.
“NH projects worth more than Rs 6,000 crore have been completed in Odisha,” said Gadkari.
Some of these include four laning of Sambalpur-Bargarh, Panikoili-Remuili and Bhubaneswar-Puri NH, six laning of Bhubaneswar-Chandikhol, construction of four lane NH upto Jharsuguda town, construction/strengthening of bridges on NH 57, NH 59 and some other highways. Several other projects worth more than Rs 4,500 Crore are scheduled for completion this year.
About 1,645 km of NH worth Rs 30,000 crore are envisaged under Bharatmala, including 93 km of Ring Roads around major towns, and DPRs for these are being prepared, said Union Minister Gadkari.
On the occasion Gadkari 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,” added Gadkari.
Talking about port led industrialization in the State the Union Minister said that 34 projects worth Rs 20,000 Crore have been identified for Odisha under Sagarmala.
After the programme at Kamakhyanagar, the two Union Ministers visited Paradip where they laid the foundation stone for the Polypropylene (PP) Plant back in 2014 to be built with an investment of Rs 3,150 crore, Mono Ethylene Glycol Project (MEG) coming up with an investment of Rs 5,654 crore and an LPG Import Terminal coming up with an investment of Rs 700 crore at Paradip Port.
Polypropylene plant will play a key role in the functioning of virtually all key sectors of the economy of Odisha which includes Automobile, Consumer Durables, Flexible and Rigid Packaging, Infrastructure, Healthcare, Agriculture and Textiles.
