ADB projects Rs.123 trillion investments in Odisha corridor

The Odisha Economic Corridor would need a total investment of Rs 123 trillion and that the transportation and logistics component of the proposed infrastructure development would account for 70 per cent of the total envisaged investment. The balance 30 per cent of the investments are to be sunk into energy and urban sectors, Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in its recent study. The Odisha Economic Corridor is the third and final phase of the country's first coastal economic corridor for which the proposed investments are based on projects that have already been identified by the Odisha government. Many road sector projects are close to procurement and construction and remaining projects would need to be executed in a phased manner. The high-value items include the coastal highway, Biju Expressway, Ranchi-Vijaywada Road, Talcher-Kharagpur Rail Link, government housing Project in Bhubaneswar, and Dhamra-Bokaro LNG Pipeline. Other key projects include the DFC projects, which are proposed to traverse the corridor. The total investments identified comprise 363 projects, of which 116 have been prioritized. The study says that a successful Economic Corridor Development (ECD) program necessitates an institutional and governance framework to coordinate policies and their implementation at the federal, state and local administrative levels.