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Cabinet approves multi-crore Badvel Nellore 4-lane highway, two multitracking projects of railways in Maharashtra and MP

Cabinet approves multi-crore Badvel Nellore 4-lane highway, two multitracking projects of railways in Maharashtra and MP

Mint28-05-2025
The Government of India's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the Badvel-Nellore four-lane highway project along with two Indian Railways multitracking projects in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, according to an official announcement.
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, along with other cabinet members, approved the projects at the CCEA meeting on Wednesday, 28 May 2025.
The government approved the construction of the 4-lane Badvel-Nellore highway on Wednesday. The project will cost ₹ 3,653.10 crore, spread across a length of 108.134 km in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
'The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the construction of 4-Lane Badvel-Nellore Corridor with a length of 108.134 km at a cost of ₹ 3,653.10 crore in state of Andhra Pradesh on NH(67) on Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) Mode,' said the government in the official release.
The highway project aims to connect three industrial corridors in Andhra Pradesh and positively impact India's Logistics Performance Index (LPI).
The project will start from Gopavaram Village on the National Highway (NH) 67 and will end at the Krishnapatnam Port Junction on NH-16. The government also seeks to reduce the travel distance to Krishanpatnam port by 33.9 km from the current 142 km to 108.13 km.
'The project with 108.134 km will generate about 20 lakh man-days of direct employment and 23 lakh man-days of indirect employment. The project will also induce additional employment opportunities due to increase in economic activity in the vicinity of the proposed corridor,' they said in the press release.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also approved two Indian Railway multitracking projects on Wednesday, 28 May 2025, to speed up the transportation of passengers and goods in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
According to the government data, the projects are estimated to cost nearly ₹ 3,399 crore and are expected to be completed by the year 2029-30.
Both the multitracking projects will cover four districts across the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, aiming to increase India's Railway network by 176 km, as it will connect nearly 784 villages with a population of around 19.74 lakh.
'These are essential routes for transportation of commodities such as coal, cement, clinker, gypsum, fly ash, containers, agriculture commodities, and Petroleum products etc. The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 18.40 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum),' said the Indian government in the official release.
According to the filing, the project is expected to generate direct employment for nearly 74 lakh human-days during the construction period.
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