Government approves Rs 1,575 crore road project in Odisha

NEW DELHI: The government today approved Rs 1,575.38-crore highway project in Odisha under its flagship highways building programme NHDP.

The project was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official statement said.

The CCEA "has approved the development of four-laning of Cuttack-Angul Section of National Highway NH-42 in Odisha. The total cost (of the project) is Rs 1575.38 crore," an official statement said.

This will be done under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase III in BOT (Toll) mode on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (BOT/DBFOT) basis, it said.

The statement said that the main object of the project is to expedite the improvement of infrastructure in Odisha and reduce time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy traffic, plying between Cuttack-Angul section of NH-42.

Development of this stretch will improve socio-economic condition of the people living in this region and also increase employment potential for local labourers with project activities, it added.

It further said that bids have been invited on the basis of provisions of the Model Concession Agreement subject to such changes as accepted by the Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC).

Maximum grant from the government for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) would be 40 per cent of the total project cost.

The road project was earlier awarded to Ashoka Buildcon Ltd and the Concession Agreement was signed in March, 2012.

However, later the concession agreement was terminated on mutual consent.