___________

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard. (Thanks to Abhishek for the pointer.)

The government has envisaged an investment of more than Rs 22,000 crore for setting up nine new major ports in the country over the next five years.

The Ministry of Shipping has asked nine coastal states — West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat — to select sites for setting up a major port each. It is awaiting a response from all nine states.

"We have written to all the nine (maritime) states and have asked them to select site for the major port," a Shipping Ministry official said, adding that construction of each port would cost about Rs 2,500 crore.

The 12 existing major ports are Mumbai, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Kolkata (with Haldia), Chennai, Visakhapatanam, Kochi, Paradip, New Mangalore, Marmagao, Ennore, Tuticorin and Kandla.

… Any port with two or more berths with facilities and equipment capable of handling 100,000 tonne per month of cargo from ocean-going ships is categorised as a major port.

The Shipping Ministry plans to create port capacity of around 3,200 million tonne to handle the expected traffic of about 2,500 million tonne by 2020.

… About 90 per cent by volume and 70% by value of the country’s international trade is carried through maritime transport.

For some reason I feel there is a catch somewhere.

To start with with private parties willing to spend their own money in setting up ports, why does the central government needs to spend its tax earnings on this. It should focus on elements for which private funding is lacking.

Other arms of the central government are trying to sell-off equity in public sector units to get money for other developmental things. With that background it does not make sense for India to spend money on things (new ports) that the private sector can do.

Perhaps some of the readers can suggest some perspectives where the above makes sense.

As per recent news, the latest route to be added is KIIT-Niladri Vihar – Kalpana with stops at Infocity, Niladri Vihar, Sailashree Vihar, Damana, Chandrasekharpur-Omfed Square, Kalinga Hospital Square, Sainik School, Institute of Physics, National Institute of Science Education and Research, Utkal University, Regional Museum of Natural History, Planetarium, Acharya Vihar, Master Canteen, and Kalpana Square.

For an overall status following is an excerpt from a Telegraph report.

Dream Team Sahara will deploy five buses for the new route. Therefore, a total of 90 buses will ply in the city bus service network in 12 routes, including those to Cuttack and Puri.

“At present, we are running 15 buses in Cuttack. But as Orissa High Court has given a directive to introduce more buses for the historic city, we are planning to add five more buses for Cuttack. Similarly, five buses are running between Bhubaneswar and Puri. By the end of this month, the number is, however, expected to go up to 15. Therefore, we will ultimately run all the 125 buses as per the plan for the city bus service under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). With 90 buses pressed into service, bus companies will have to provide 35 more buses to make the fleet fully equipped,” said chief operating officer of Dream Team Sahara, Sudhanshu Jena.

The detailed stoppages and distances of the older routes are given in the following brochure obtained from a BMC site.

Following is from a report in Telegraph:

1. Khurda – Balangir line: "… the process of separating the government land has been hampered because of the demand of premium for it by the concerned tehsildars. This, when the state government had exempted it.

   Between the 32km and the 112km marks of the line, 1,020 acres are required and out of this, 802 acres have been handed over by the state government.

   However, processing of papers for the land acquisition from the 80km to the 112km mark is held up for verification. This patch of land is crucial for the project."

2. Haridaspur-Paradip broad gauge line: " the progress of land acquisition has been hampered by the demand for higher compensation against acquired land by the local people. Interestingly, payment of ex gratia to the landlosers has already been made by Haridaspur- Paradip Rail Corporation Limited."
3. Talcher-Bimalagarh new broad gauge line: "… a total of 68.56 acres of government land and 58.865 acres of forestland is yet to be demarkated by the state government in favour of railways."
4. Angul-Sukinda new broad gauge line:  "has also not been taken up because of the state government’s non-cooperation. The project would involve 69 villages, but formalities have been completed only for 38 villages. Preliminary estimates regarding the remaining 31 villages are pending with the commerce and transport department for sanction."
5. Rajaathagarh-Barang doubling project: "… 11 acres were required. The total private land required for the project has been acquired and the alienation proposal is under process by the district administration."
6. Jharsuguda-Rengal doubling rail project: "119 acres are involved. Land measuring 14.570 acres in two villages is to be handed over to railways by the state government. The acquisition of another 4.310 acres is pending with the state government’s transport and commerce department."
7. Lanjigarh-Junagarh new broad gauge line: " work has been stalled because of non-acquisition of land. With the possession of 2.8km forestland yet to be reported by the divisional forest officer, Bhawanipatna, the construction has been held up.

Following is from the Team Orissa newsletter of AprilJune’2011.

In regards to the airport in Paradeep, there has been news that it will be an important aspect of the proposed PCPIR in Paradeep.

In the past, two other airport locations have been mentioned: Koraput/Jeypore/Sunabeda area and Balasore/Baripada/Rasgovindpur area. In fact, after Rourkela, Jharsuguda and Gopalpur, these two will be the important locations as they have the potential to be regional airports.

(Thanks to Situn and Rourkelacity.com for the pointer.)

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Air taxi services between Rourkela and Calcutta will be launched from September 1. As a promotional fare, a one way trip per person (inclusive of all charges) would cost Rs 4,189 for Rourkela-Calcutta sector from September 1 till 11. Thereafter, the full fare of Rs 6,494 (inclusive of all charges) will be levied on the sector. The bookings on the Calcutta-Rourkela-Calcutta route is already on and available on the website www.dtdsindia.com.

We explored the DTDS webiste at http://www.dtdsindia.com/.  Following are some excerpts.

Between Kolkata airport and all the neighboring Steel City Bokaro, Jamshedpur, Burnpur, Durgapur (Panagarh), Rourkela airport at a fixed and convenient schedule.  …

As soon as you arrive at airport, our staff will greet you with your boarding ticket and escort you till the aircraft where you board and take off.

Following are the flight timings.

Now the people of Rourkela need to patronize this flight so that other careers get interested in scheduling regular flights to Rourkela.

Joda and Barbil are twin towns in Keonjhar district of Odisha; they are 8-10 kms apart. These towns are surrounded by many mines and also have many industries. With the recent extension of the train from Puri to Bansapani, which is near Joda, the twin towns now have daily trains both to/from Cuttack/Bhubaneswar/Puri as well as to/from Jamshedpur (a passenger and a Jan shatabdi) and Howrah (the Jan Shatabdi). There is also a fast passenger connecting Keonjhar to Bhubaneswar.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

Though there are 12 potential port locations on the coast-line, the State Government is not in a hurry to develop these ports. It would take appropriate decisions for development of the proposed ports in Public-Private-Participation mode only after preparation of the feasibility report.

… According to official sources, apart from the ongoing ports – Dhamara and Gopalpur – there are at least 12 potential port locations on the coast line. They are Bahuda Muhan in Ganjam, Baliharchandi, Astaranga, Jatadhari Muhan, Barunei Muhan, Chudamani, Incudi, Chandipur, Bahabalpur, Subarnarekha Mouth (Kirtania) and Bichitrapur.

While the decision to develop Chudamani and Astaranga ports has already been taken, land acquisition for development of the Subarnarekha port was under consideration of the Board of Revenue. Environment and other related clearances of this proposed port are in the final stage.

Of other proposed nine ports, it was decided to prepare feasibility report in each case before entering into any deal with private investors for developing them on BOOST, though a number of private promoters have evinced interest, the sources said.

The sources said that the Dhamara Port has already been completed at an estimated investment of Rs 3,239 crore and the railway line is already operational. …

On Gopalpur Port being operated by private developer Gopalpur Ports Limited, the sources said the completion of the all-weather port would be done at an estimated cost of Rs 1212.55 crore. It was decided to set up a fishing jetty at Gopalpur and to provide ID cards to 5,000 fishermen.

With the completion of Gopalpur port, as many as 4,888 direct and 1,000 indirect employments potential would be created, the sources said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

New infrastructure projects in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Orissa are set to get a major push in the five years starting 2012 as various government agencies will be prioritising building of roads, rail networks, airports and sea ports in these states that are setting up mega petroleum and petrochemical investment regions.

Five massive regions meant to attract investments in the petrochemical and allied sectors are now at various stages of implementation at Dahej in Gujarat, Visakhapatnam-Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, Haldia in West Bengal, Paradeep in Orissa and Cuddalore and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. These investment zones, each of which is not less than 250 square kilometres, are expected to attract a collective investment of R8,63,664 crore and create more than 40 lakh jobs during the 12th Five-Year Plan.

… “We will get infrastructure build for these projects using various existing schemes through appropriate prioritization,” K Jose Cyriac, department of chemicals and petrochemicals secretary, said. Government entities like the National Highways Authority of India, shipping ministry and the railways ministry would emphasise on fresh projects in these regions while allocating resources in the coming years. In the case of small connecting roads wherever required, the state governments concerned would include them in their own development plans.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Petronet LNG Ltd, one of the fastest growing companies in the Indian energy sector has evinced interest in setting up an LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) terminal along the Orissa coast.

Dhamara, Gopalpur and Paradip ports in the state have been identified as the possible locations for the proposed LNG terminal which is set to cost Rs 4,000-5,000 crore.

“Petronet LNG is keen to set up an LNG terminal along the Orissa coast. The company is yet to zero in on any site though Dhamara, Gopalpur and Paradip have emerged as the potential locations. Petronet LNG has told us that the Orissa coast is the most suitable location for setting up the LNG terminal in which Rs 4,000-5,000 crore will be invested,” T Ramachandru, principal secretary (industries), Orissa government told Business Standard.

Petronet LNG is understood to be in talks with Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) authorities as well as promoters of Dhamara Ports Company Ltd (DPCL) and Gopalpur Ports Ltd (GPL) for the project. “We had initial discussions with the officials of Petronet LNG. They have proposed to set up an LNG terminal along the Orissa coast and we are open to the idea of setting up the terminal at Gopalpur. Petronet LNG officials have talked to PPT authorities as well as DPCL,” said Charchit Mishra, director of GPL.

… Petronet runs India’s first LNG receiving and re-gasification terminal at Dahej (Gujarat) having a capacity of 10 million tonne per annum (mtpa), equivalent to 40 mscmd (million standard cubic metres per day) of natural gas. The company is in the process of building another terminal at Kochi (Kerala) which will have a capacity of five mtpa equivalent to 20 mscmd.

Following is from the "About Us" page of Petronet.

Formed as a Joint Venture by the Government of India to import LNG and set up LNG terminals in the country, it involves India’s leading oil and natural gas industry players. Our promoters are GAIL (India) Limited (GAIL), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

The following map gives an idea that the location picked and being considered by Petronet is not going to be a one-off thing. From the shape of India it becomes clear that many companies who will be importing "things" and distributing them across India would think of three ports: one in the West, one in the South and one in the East. In the East, since Odisha has a much longer coast line than West Bengal, there is a rush to establish ports in Odisha. These ports are going to be a big factor in the development of Odisha. Because of that Odisha is and should be zealously protecting the welfare of its existing and planned ports.

The various phases of NHDP and their meaning, as obtained from wikipedia,  is as follows:

Phase I: The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ; 5,846 km) connecting the four major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

* In Odisha: Part of the GQ connecting Kolkata to Chennai.

Phase II: North-South and East-West corridors comprising national highways connecting four extreme points of the country. The North-South and East-West Corridor (NS-EW; 7,300 km) connecting Srinagar in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, including spur from Salem to Kanyakumari (Via Coimbatore and Kochi) and Silchar in the east to Porbandar in the west.

* In Odisha None

Phase III: The government recently approved NHDP-III to upgrade 12,109 km (7,524 mi)of national highways on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis, which takes into account high-density traffic, connectivity of state capitals via NHDP Phase I and II, and connectivity to centres of economic importance. contracts have been awarded for a 2,075 km (1,289 mi).

* In Odisha (From http://www.nhai.org/nhdpphase3.asp.)

• Panikholi-Keonjhar- Rimoli, NH 215, 106kms
• Duburi – Talcher, NH 200, 98kms
• Bhubneshwar-Puri(Approved Length 59 Km) 203 67
• Chandikhole-Duburi 200 39
• Rimoli – Roxy – Rajamunda(Approved Length 163Km) 215 96
• Sambalpur-Baragarh-Chattisgarh/Orrisa Border 6 88 Balance for award

Phase IV: The government is considering widening 20,000 km (12,000 mi) of highway that were not part of Phase I, II, or III. Phase IV will convert existing single lane highways into two lanes with paved shoulders. The plan will soon be presented to the government for approval.

* In Odisha (From http://www.nhai.org/ppp.htm.)

• Birmitrapur-Barkote 23 Orissa 128 778.15 IV Aug’11
• Angul-Sambalpur 42 Orissa 153 1220.32 IV Aug’11
• Cuttak-Angul 42 Orissa 112 1123.69 IV Sep’11  [4 laning approved by finance ministry panel, Sept 2011]

Phase V: As road traffic increases over time, a number of four lane highways will need to be upgraded/expanded to six lanes. The current plan calls for upgrade of about 5,000 km (3,100 mi) of four-lane roads, although the government has not yet identified the stretches.

* In Odisha (From http://www.nhai.org/nhdpphase5.asp.)

• Six Laning of Chandikhol-Jagatpur-Bhubaneswar(Approved Length 61 Km) 5 67
• Dhankuni-Balasore (Orissa portion Balasore – Laxmannath) 2 , 6& 60 235.68
• Bhubneshwar-Ichchapuram 5 164.33
• Balasore –Chandikhol 5 138.14

Phase VI: The government is working on constructing expressways that would connect major commercial and industrial townships. It has already identified 400 km (250 mi) of Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Mumbai section that would connect to the existing Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Ahmedabad section. The World Bank is studying this project. The project will be funded on BOT basis. The 334 km (208 mi) Expressway between Chennai—Bangalore and 277 km (172 mi) Expressway between Kolkata—Dhanbad has been identified and feasibility study and DPR contract has been awarded by NHAI.

* In Odisha: None yet.

Phase VII: This phase calls for improvements to city road networks by adding ring roads to enable easier connectivity with national highways to important cities. In addition, improvements will be made to stretches of national highways that require additional flyovers and bypasses given population and housing growth along the highways and increasing traffic. The government has not yet identified a firm investment plan for this phase.

* In Odisha: None yet.

In addition to the above some of the other major highway development activities are:

• Sambalpur-Rourkela (SH-10) : Widening from two lane to Four Lane Divided Carriage Way – Flexible Pavement with Hard Shoulder. This is being done via PPP by the state.
• Capital Region Ring Road (CRRR): New Construction for     4-lane bituminous road in phases with 2-lane road in Phase-1. This is to be done via PPP by the state.
• Bhubaneswar-Paradeep: New Construction for  4-lane bituminous road. Possibly as part of the Paradeep PCPIR.
• Green Field Coastal Corridor from Astarang to Dhamara via Paradeep:  Possibly as part of the Paradeep PCPIR.
• Vijaywada – Ranch highway: Got approval of Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure in October 2010 for a total budget of 1200 crores. The detailed route and map is at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1247. The path is Motu – Malkangiri – Jeypore – Koraput – Laxmipur – Rayagada – Digapahandi – Aska – Bhanjanagar – Sankarkhol – Phulbani – Boudha – Kiakata – Rairakhol – Nakti Deol – Chhendipada – Deogarh – Keonjhar – Dhenkikote – Tongabilla – Rairangpur – Jharkhand border

The following annotated map shows the above highways on the Odisha map.

The blue path is the divided 2 lane Vijaywada-Ranchi highway; the red one, already a 4-lane highway as part of the Golden Quadrilateral will become a 6-lane highway; and the orange (state/PPP funded) and pink (part of NHDP) ones will be 4-lane highways. I believe soon the remaining parts of NH 5 (for port connectivity to ports in Balasore district) and NH 6  (as it connects Mumbai-Kolkata) will also become 4-lane highways and all the new ports coming up will be connected to the GQ by 4-lane highways.

The concern is the bottom half of Odisha which will not have good roads except the Vijaywada-Ranchi highway. Unless particular attention is paid to that part, it will fall further behind.

The expressway plan at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/topics/tnc-all/roads-and-highways-infrastructure-in-orissa/expressways does cover all of Odisha in phases. If parts of it can be expedited then it will help.

Following is from http://www.nhai.org/ppp.htm.

Update on July 12 2011: As per a report in Business Standard:

The financial ministry approves the four laning of Angul-Sambalpur section of NH 42 in Orissa for Rs 1,220.32 crore and two/four laning of Birmitrapur to Barkote section in Orissa (Rs 778.15 crore). These are to be done via PPP.

Original part published on: June 19th. 2008, 11:55pm

Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

The Lok Sabha petitions committee rapped the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for the inordinate delay in four-laning of the National Highway No 42 from Angul to Sambalpur. As a number of steel industries and thermal power plants are coming up in Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Angul and Dhenkanal districts, traffic on this route has increased manifold. The State Government has been demanding the NHAI for further widening of this route in view of movement of large number of heavy vehicles. The petitions committee chaired by Pabhunath Singh met at Delhi recently and sought to know from the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways about the delay in four-laning the road. The NHAI officials reportedly told the committee that the proposal of the State had been approved. After survey on traffic intensity on the route, the 107-km stretch between Manguli and Angul has been been identified for four-laning. The Ministry has made a budgetary provision of Rs 2.3 crore in the current year�s budget for feasibility study and preparation of detailed project report (DPR). Steps have been taken to engage a consultant for DPR preparation. … Dharmendra Pradhan, a member of the committee, reportedly suggested that the four-laning should be done up to Jarpada in view of the steel project coming up there. However, the Ministry officials said that there is no proposal for four-laning beyond Angul. On the development of 209-km-long NH-23 from Banarpal to Birmitrapur, the Ministry said that widening of 9- km road to two lane is in progress and the four-laning of Birmitrapur to Rajamunda depends of the traffic intensity. A consultant has been appointed for feasibility study.

(Thanks to Devasis Sarangi for the pointers.)

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

After committing investments on a new six million-tonne-per-annum (mtpa) steel plant, a captive power plant and a coal-to-liquid project in Orissa, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has evinced interest on setting up a captive port in Ganjam district.

It involves a capital cost of Rs 1,424 crore, while the operational cost of running the port would be Rs 152 crore per annum. The first phase is scheduled to be operational by 2017.

The location is 30 km south of the existing Gopalpur port and 18 km from Berhampur.

JSPL today made a presentation to the state commerce and transport department on the proposed port at the mouth of the Bahuda river, a perennial port. The port does not require acquisition of farm land and there are no issues involved with nesting of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles in the area.

… The captive port will handle capesize vessels (150,000 or dwt) for coal and coke and Handymax vessels (50,000 dwt) for general cargo. During the first phase, the port will have two dedicated berths for handling coal and limestone and one berth for general cargo. The port is anticipated to handle about 33 million tonnes per annum of coal and other import items. Six capesize vessels of 150,000 dwt would make 36 visits each per annum for 33 mtpa of coal and other export items.

Work on the second phase is set to begin after 2017, when the port will have three more general berths.

By 2017, the port is expected to handle 4.93 million tonnes (mt) of steel coils and 900,000 tonnes of steel plates. Similarly, the company will import 5.5 mt of coking coal, 7.46 mt of non-coking coal, 2.6 mt of limestone and 3.7 mt of dolomite through this port by that period.

By 2020, the export of coils from the port is projected at 9 mt. Likewise, JSPL would import 12.6 mt coking coal, 7.5 mt non-coking coal, 4.4 mt limestone and 4.7 mt dolomite.

The multiplier effects of the port include revenue from cargo handling, regional economic development, and employment generation, development of road and rail connectivity and acceleration of local economy as well as that of the state.

In the last couple of days there have been several news items regarding improving the air connectivity and airport infrastructure in Odisha. These include:

• Steps towards improving the current airport in Bhubaneswar.
• Steps towards expediting the Jharsuguda airport.
• Steps towards having air services to two additional airports in the state.

Following are some of the news items and excerpts.

Following are excerpts from a report in Times of India.

The city has moved a step closer to its dream of an international airport with the state government identifying over 2,000 acres of land, around 40 km south of the capital, on National Highway 5 for it. "We have identified over 2,000 acre near Jankia and Malipada villages. The survey work is on," Khurda collector Hrusikesh Tripathy said.

Sources said land of around 20 villages, including Gayabandha, Malipada, Dalaka, Pota and Godipada, a large tract of cashew plantation belonging to the Orissa State Cashew Development Corporation, are being considered for the proposed international airport.

Official sources said the area was considered for three main reasons. One, the government has a big patch of land available in the area. So the proposed airport would require minimum land acquisition and displacement. Secondly, the NH will provide good connectivity to the airport from the city. Thirdly, it will be a strategically located for Cuttack-Bhubaneswar urban complex as well as Puri and Berhampur.

…"The airport plan is futuristic keeping in mind the city’s need for 2030 and beyond. The location has to keep in mind the city’s needs then.

… Officials said the airport plan is still at a nascent stage. A committee under the revenue divisional commissioner (central range) has tentatively identified the land. After it finalises actual details of the land, the government would send the same for a feasibility study to the Airports Authority of India. If AAI gives it a go-ahead, the government would go for land acquisition. After that the government and AAI would involve private parties to develop the airport, they said. "The current airport almost divides the city into two. It is high time to consider shifting it to a new location," said BDA planning member Prashant Patnaik.

Following is from a report in Telegraph.

The polluted Daya West Canal would soon be converted into a two-way road network with a water body at the centre at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore. The integrated Daya West Canal road project would entail a 7.8-km structure from Palasuni to Garage Chhak connecting NH-5 with NH-203.

The work began today with chief minister Naveen Patnaik laying foundation stone for the integrated project, which would have roads of 30-feet width on both sides of the canal. The 60-feet wide canal would be squeezed to half its width. The roads on both the sides of the water channel would also have barricade for safe plying of vehicles.

… the project would be completed within two years. However, keeping in view the traffic problem on the Rasulgarh-Samantarapur stretch on NH-203, it has been decided to speed up work for the road project so that it could help in diverting traffic from NH-5 from Palasuni to Puri.

… The 7.8-km-long structure would include strengthening of the existing road crossings so that people residing on both sides of the Daya West Canal can easily cross the road. In case of necessity, new road crossings will also be added,’’ said Gantayat.

… To facilitate better traffic flow on the road, there would be provisions like bus bay, autorickshaw stand and common parking lots. There is enough land on both the sides of the canal. In future, therefore, the roads on both sides can be expanded to a six-lane or eight-lane structure as per the demand of the growing traffic.

… In future, the road project with the water body can also become a spot to promote water sports or fun activities such as boating. “We have also included possible space to include such activities, in case the civic authorities or the tourism department wishes to take it up,” he added.

Following are excerpts from a report in Times of India.

… NHAI state project director Aditya Kumar Ray said work has started on the flyovers at Rasulgarh and Fire Station and the construction similar projects at CRPF Square, Acharya Vihar and Vani Vihar will commence soon.

Except for the Rasulgarh project, the other flyovers will be similar to the one at Jaydev Vihar. The Rasulgarh flyover will have extra slopes to facilitate seamless traffic flow from Cuttack to Puri as well as on NH-5. It will be aesthetically designed as an entrance point to Bhubaneswar, he said.

… Sources said NHAI needed to acquire more land at Rasulgarh to execute the project. "We are in the process of acquiring some more land at Rasulgarh. Everywhere else in Bhubaneswar, the expansion will happen with the land already acquired," Ray said.

NHAI plans to construct vehicular underpasses at VSS Nagar, Vani Vihar railway overbridge (ROB), Pahal, Press Chowk. The pedestrian underpasses will be built at Kali temple, CRPF Chowk, Iskon temple, OCAC building, RTO office, University Law College and Rasulgarh.

Just outside Bhubaneswar, NHAI will construct flyovers at Phulnakhara, Khapuria, Jagatpur and Manguli in Cuttack. Work for three-lane bridges over the rivers Hansapal, Kathajodi, Mahanadi and Birupa has already started. "The bridges will be hopefully ready by 2014," Ray said.

The existing two-way bridges on these rivers will be made one way and the new bridges will be used for traffic going the other way. The NHAI had signed an agreement with Sri Jagannath Expressway Pvt Ltd, a concessionaire of three private firms (SREI, Simplex and GALFAR), on August 6, 2010, for widening and redevelopment of the 67-km-long Bhubaneswar-Chandikhol section of the Kolkata-Chennai highway. The road will be constructed to sustain vehicular traffic at a speed of 100 km per hour. However, the actual speed limit will be decided by the civic administration, the NHAI official said.

The project will cost Rs 1,047 crore and NHAI will provide Rs 205 crore. The developer will generate the rest of the funds through design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis. "The developer will maintain the road for 26 years,” Ray said.

Once the construction is over, the developer will collect toll from the road users. According to initial estimates, heavy vehicles will have to pay something over Rs 100 and light vehicles would be charged an amount between Rs 80 to Rs 100.

… At present, over 5,000 heavy vehicles pass through the national highway in the city every day. To reduce the traffic load within Bhubaneswar, police divert the vehicles towards Cuttack from Pitapalli via Chandaka. Sources said NHAI has plans to make a bypass road from Khurda to Tangi bypassing Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

The six new ports are Kirtania (Balasore district), Chudamani (Bhadrak district), Dhamara (Bhadrak district), Astaranga (Puri district), Baliharchandi (Puri district) and Gopalpur (Ganjam district).

Following is a report from Sambada.