Govt goes for ₹6,000-cr road & port projects

The Union transport minister launched a slew of highway and port projects worth ₹6,000 crore in Odisha and has committed to inject ₹2.5 lakh crore to boost infrastructure development in the state. He has laid the foundation stone for three national highways worth ₹2,345 crore, at Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal district of Odisha, including four-laning of the Talcher-Kamakhyanagar section of NH 200/23, Kamakhyanagar-Duburi section of NH 200 and Duburi-Chandikhole section of NH 200. He also laid the foundation stones for six other projects worth ₹3,206 crore at a function at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district. The length of national highways in Odisha has more than doubled in the last four years from 4,632 km in 2014 to 9,426 km in 2018 and to add to this, the Centre is now spending nearly ₹1 lakh crore on building national highways across the state including waterways and seaways—to enable Odisha realize its full potential as a mineral rich state.