Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari would inaugurate the 61-km stretch of National Highway-203 from Bhubaneswar to Puri on July 9 in Puri.Gadkari has sent a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard.This project was taken up under the National Highway Development Project (NHDP) with an impetus for fast-tracking of various stalled highway projects for overall infrastructure development in the State. The cost of the project is over Rs 500 crore, officials said.
The sources said Union Minister of Tourism Mahesh Sharma and Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha would also join the inauguration ceremony, over which the Chief Minister would preside.The four-laning of the Bhubaneswar-Puri section of NH-203 has now been substantially completed as targeted in view of the ensuing Nabakalebar Rath Yatra.
The four-laning is complete from Palasuni to Malatipatpur, The two-laning is complete from Malatipatpur to Mangalaghat and four-laning of this stretch is in progress, which is expected to be completed soon.An additional two-lane carriageway of road over-bridge is currently at an advance stage of construction and expected to be completed before Rath Yatra, Gadkari has promised.