The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the construction of a six-lane access-controlled Capital Region Ring Road (Bhubaneswar Bypass – 110.875 km) in Odisha under the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) at a total capital cost of Rs 83.1 billion.
At present, the stretch between Rameshwar and Tangi on the existing National Highway faces severe congestion due to heavy traffic moving through highly urbanised centres such as Khordha, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The proposed greenfield highway aims to divert commercial traffic away from these cities, improving freight efficiency, reducing logistics costs, and boosting socio-economic growth in Odisha and neighbouring eastern states.
The project alignment will connect three major National Highways (NH-55, NH-57, NH-655) and one State Highway (SH-65), creating seamless connectivity to key economic, social and logistics hubs across the state. It will also improve multi-modal integration by linking 10 economic nodes, 4 social nodes and 5 logistics nodes. This includes connections to a major railway station, an airport, a proposed Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) and two ports, thereby ensuring faster movement of goods and passengers.
Once completed, the bypass will strengthen links between religious and economic centres, catalyse trade and industrial development, and contribute significantly to regional growth. The project is also expected to generate around 7.4 million person-days of direct and 9.3 million person-days of indirect employment, opening up new opportunities for development and prosperity in the surrounding areas.
