At least 18 projects including two proposed highways of Odisha were evaluated and approved at the Network Planning Group (NPG) meeting under the PM GatiShakti initiative at New Delhi.

The projects include Sambalpur Ring Road and Cuttack-Paradip corridor. With this, a total of six highway projects of the state have been accorded in-principle approval in a month.

The four-lane Sambalpur Ring Road project measuring around 35.38 km is essential for reducing congestion and supporting industrial growth in the region. The greenfield ring road will be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,333 crore and the work is expected to begin soon.

Similarly, the four-lane Cuttack-Paradip corridor spanning 86.79 km will provide critical connectivity to the economic nodes and the Paradip port, which also connects to other high-capacity highways. This will play an important role in socio-economic development of the region. Last month, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had approved four highway projects worth Rs 15,000 crore proposed by the state government.

The approved projects are six-lane 60-km Bhubaneswar-Puri highway at an estimated cost of Rs 1,800 crore, 200-km Chandikhole-Barbil at Rs 10,000 crore, four-lane 54-km Khurda-Nayagarh NH-57 at Rs 1,100 crore and four-lane 46-km Kesinga-Junagarh NH-26 at Rs 1,000 crore.