Southern Odisha is set for a massive infrastructure boost after the Union Cabinet gave the green signal on Wednesday to overhaul a major chunk of National Highway 326. The project, which involves widening and strengthening a 243-kilometer stretch between Mohana and Koraput, aims to fix what has long been a frustrating and dangerous route for both locals and commercial truckers. With an estimated cost of ₹1,526.21 crore, the upgrade is designed to replace narrow lanes and treacherous "black spots" with a modern, high-speed corridor that can handle the heavy demands of the region's growing industrial sector.
Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while announcing the decision, emphasised that this isn't just a road project— it’s a lifeline for the tribal and backward districts of Gajapati, Rayagada, and Koraput. With the smoothened curves and overall geometric improvements, the government aims to reduce the time taken by 2.5 to 3 hours and thereby decrease the distance to be covered by around 12.5km.Additionally, the time saved is of utmost importance to the region, which is known to be highly reliant on the transportation of raw and finished goods to and from major industrial units such as NALCO, Vedanta, HAL, and JK Paper.
The importance of the road, designated NH-326, cannot be highlighted enough. This is a lifeline connecting the southern part of Odisha to Andhra Pradesh and is used to connect the interiors to Gopalpur port and Jeypore Airport, among other economic centers. Talking about the economic benefits, the upgrade is expected to change the lifestyle of the people with respect to quick access to necessary services like Koraput Medical College and the Central University of Odisha, among others. In this context, the union cabinet also identified the generation of employment in the area, manual and machinery, within the project period of 24 months.
From the technological aspect, it is meeting current requirements by incorporating precast buildings and drone surveillance to oversee that it stays on schedule. Once the 24-month build is complete, the contract includes a mandatory five-year maintenance period to ensure the highway doesn't fall back into disrepair. By integrating these remote districts into major corridors like the Raipur–Visakhapatnam route, this investment aims to finally bridge the economic gap between southern Odisha’s rural heartlands and the state’s more developed urban centers.
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