4 lane ORR to envelope capital

​Vijayawada: The State government reportedly finalised the draft for the outer ring road (ORR) for capital city - Amaravati. The initial plans project the four-lane ORR to cost Rs 20,000 crore for the exchequer. The Central government already cleared the expansion and development of the national highways in the State at a cost Rs 30,000 crore of which Rs 20,000 crore is exclusively for the Amaravati ORR.

The Union Minister for Roads and Transport, Nitin Gadkari had earlier announced that these national highway works would be taken up in the public private partnership (PPP) mode. While Rs 20,000 crore is set to go for the Amaravati ORR, the State government had proposed two four-lane roads from Kurnool and Anantapur to the capital city at Rs 10,000 crore.

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Highlights:

• Project to cost Rs 20,000 cr, works likely to be taken in PPP mode
• State government renews plea to Centre for early completion of exiting national highway works, early launch of new works
• Minister for Transport Sidda Raghava Rao says ORR, roads to Rayalaseema are a priority

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In addition to this, the Central government had agreed to convert some of the State highways into national highways. The proposed roads to be upgraded into national highways include, 55-km-long Kodikonda to Madakasira stretch via Lepakshi and Hindupur, 83-km-long Bestavaripet to Renigunta stretch passing through Podili, Chimakurthy and Ongole,

133-km-long Kadapa to Renigunta stretch passing through Rajampet and Koduru, 242-km-long Mydukuru to Singarayakonda stretch via Pamuru, 69-km-long Miryalaguda to Narasampet stretch via Piduguralla, 46 km stretch of Chilakaluripet to Vodarevu via Chirala, 80 km stretch of Bhadrachalam to Rajamahendravaram passing through Jeelugumilli, Jangareddigudem and Devarapalli,

32-km-long stretch of Bhimavaram to Tadepalligudem, 440-km-long Rajamahendravaram to Vizianagaram stretch passing through Koyyuru, Chinatapalli, Lambasingi, Paderu, Araku and Srungavarapukota and the 25 km stretch of Kuppam to Kolar.

In addition conversion of these roads into national highways, the State government had renewed its request for early completion of the works on several existing national highways. The Union Transport Ministry started works on 188.75-km-long Kadapa-Kurnool four-lane road with Rs 1585 crore.

Similarly, the expansion of Chilakaluripet-Vijayawada four-lane road into six-lane road at a cost of Rs 675 crore is nearing completion. A similar work on the highway from Chilakaluripet to Nellore stretching for 183.62 km at a cost of Rs 2,170 crore is also nearing completion.

The Gundugolanu-Vijayawada 103.59-km-long road is being converted into six lanes, while the 63.23 km long Tirupati-Tiruttani-Chennai road at a cost of Rs 571 crore is in the final stage. Minister for Transport Sidda Raghava Rao said that the State government was in constant touch with the Central government on early completion of the ongoing works and early initiation of the proposed works.

“The outer ring road for Amaravati and the connecting roads to Rayalaseema are our priority. We have already placed the proposals before the Central government and will start the works once we get the clearance. As Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is proposing to build Amaravati as world-class capital, we are focusing more on providing better connectivity.

The existing rail and air connectivity is being improved, while new plans were taken up to provide better and new road connectivity to the capital city,” he asserted. The Minister informed that the government had prepared plans to ensure that every district headquarters was connected to Amaravati, via a four-lane road.