Centre approves 4-lane highway corridor in Andhra Pradesh

New Delhi: In a major push to infrastructure and logistics enhancement in Andhra Pradesh, the Centre on Wednesday approved the construction of a 4-lane highway corridor from Badvel to Nellore.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its nod to the project, which will be implemented under the Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) model at an estimated capital cost of Rs. 3,653.10 crore.

The approved Badvel-Nellore corridor will provide connectivity to important nodes in the three Industrial Corridors of Andhra Pradesh, i.e., Kopparthy Node on the Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), Orvakal Node on Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (HBIC) and Krishnapatnam Node on Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC), said a statement.

Badvel-Nellore Corridor starts from Gopavaram Village on the existing National Highway NH-67 in the YSR Kadapa District and terminates at the Krishnapatnam Port Junction on NH-16 (Chennai-Kolkata) in SPSR Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh, and will also provide strategic connectivity to the Krishnapatnam Port, which has been identified as a priority node under Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC), the statement added.

The proposed corridor will reduce the travel distance to Krishanpatnam port by 33.9 km from 142 km to 108.13 km as compared to the existing Badvel-Nellore road.

Multitracking projects :

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved two multitracking projects between Ratlam- Nagda (3rd and 4th line) and Wardha- Balharshah (4th line) to ensure seamless and faster transportation of both passengers and goods, the statement said.

The total estimated cost of the projects will be around Rs 3,399 crore and will be completed by 2029-30.

The two projects covering four districts across the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 176 km.