The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved construction of a new coastal highway from Rameshwar to Paradeep in Odisha on a Hybrid Annuity Model under two packages with a combined length of 160.18 km and a capital cost of Rs 83.01 billion (bn). The approval was given at a meeting chaired by the prime minister and the project will aim to improve regional connectivity and freight movement. It will link nine economic nodes and five logistic nodes.

The corridor will pass through Khurda, Puri, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur and will connect with NH-16 and NH-316, which serve Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri. Road geometry between Puri, Satapada and Konark is described as poor, with nearly forty per cent ribbon development and heavy local commuter traffic that impedes long distance travel. The new alignment seeks to provide safer and more efficient transit for passenger and freight movements.

Package one will be a four-lane access controlled highway from Rameshwar to Konark and package two will be a two-lane carriageway with paved shoulder from Konark to Paradeep, both designed for a hundred km per hour speed. The projects carry a concession period of seventeen point five years, including two point five years of construction and fifteen years of operation and maintenance. Completion is expected to reduce travel time by about two hours and thirty minutes and to lower fuel use, carbon emissions and vehicle operating costs.

Total capital cost for package one is Rs 53.05 bn and for package two Rs 29.96 bn, with separate provisions for land and pre-construction. Package one covers about 79.40 km and package two about 80.78 km, largely on greenfield alignment. Construction employment is estimated at around five point three six million (mn) man-days direct and six point seven mn man-days indirect. Expected annual average daily traffic in 2027-28 is 10,437 PCU for package one and 7,249 PCU for package two.