The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved four major national highway infrastructure projects with a combined length of approximately 728 km at a total estimated cost of over ₹24,250 crore. Approvals have been granted for widening and upgrading of highways in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, and the construction of a new coastal highway in Odisha. These initiatives will significantly enhance road connectivity, ease traffic congestion, and boost economic activity in the respective regions
In Madhya Pradesh, the Cabinet has approved the upgradation of the Hiwarkhedi-Roshni-Ashapur-Rudhy section of NH-347B from intermediate lane to 2-lane with paved shoulders for 125.01 km and the widening of the Deshgaon-Julwaniya section from 2-lane to 4-lane for 108.643 km, totalling 233.653 km, at a cost of ₹4,415.60 crore on Hybrid Annuity Mode.
The project will address severe geometric deficiencies and congestion in Betul, Khandwa, Khargone, and Barwani districts, including a 16.20 km greenfield bypass for Khargone. It will improve travel speeds, road safety, and connectivity to multiple economic nodes such as textile clusters, mega food parks, industrial parks, and thermal power plants, along with social and logistic nodes including airports at Indore and Nagpur.
In Telangana, approval has been granted for widening the Armoor-Jagtial-Mancherial section of NH-63 and the Jagtial-Karimnagar section of NH-563 to 4-lane standards across three packages, covering a total length of 190.76 km at a cost of ₹7,597.16 crore. The Armoor-Jagtial-Mancherial stretch will be developed on Hybrid Annuity Mode while the Jagtial-Karimnagar section will follow the Build-Operate-Transfer (Toll) mode.
These upgrades will alleviate congestion in Nizamabad, Jagtial, Mancherial, and Karimnagar districts and reduce travel time by about 1.5 hours between Armoor and Mancherial and 45 minutes between Jagtial and Karimnagar. The project aligns with PM GatiShakti principles by connecting several economic, social, and logistic nodes, promising substantial savings in fuel consumption and vehicle operating costs.
In Bihar, the upgradation of the Khagaria-Purnea section of NH-31 and NH-231 to 4-lane standards over 143.529 km has been approved at a cost of ₹3,936.05 crore on BOT (Toll) mode. This development will tackle geometric deficiencies and congestion across Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Katihar, and Purnia districts, incorporating a 6.729 km greenfield bypass for Purnea city.
Travel time is expected to reduce by about two hours, while enhancing connectivity to economic nodes including textile clusters, mega food parks, and fishing seafood parks, along with key logistic infrastructure such as railway stations and Purnea airport.
In Odisha, the construction of a new coastal highway from Rameshwar to Paradeep, spanning 160.18 km in two packages, has received approval at a cost of ₹8,300.79 crore on Hybrid Annuity Mode. Package-1 will develop a 4-lane access-controlled highway from Rameshwar to Konark (79.40 km), while Package-2 will provide a 2-lane road with paved shoulders from Konark to Paradeep (80.78 km).
The project will offer an alternative to the congested NH-16 and NH-316 corridors, reducing travel time by approximately 2.5 hours between Rameshwar and Paradeep. It will strengthen connectivity to nine economic nodes, including SEZs, fishing clusters, and pharma clusters, and five logistic nodes such as Paradeep Port and Puri Airport, promoting tourism and industrial growth along the coast.
The projects are in line with the PM GatiShakti principles and will connect 9 Economic Nodes and 5 Logistic Nodes. This will have a positive impact on the Logistic Performance Index (LPI) of the country.
