BHUBANESWAR: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate and lay foundation stone of a slew of projects during his one day visit to the State on Wednesday. Gadkari will perform the ground breaking ceremony of three national highway (NH) projects, estimated to cost Rs 2,345 crore,  in Dhenkanal district.

According to the Ministry, Gadkari will lay the foundation stone for four-laning of Talcher-Kamakhyanagar section (41.72 km) of NH 200/23 (new NH 33) at an estimated cost of Rs 795.18 crore, 51.1 km Kamakhyanagar-Duburi section of NH 200 (new NH 53) at a cost of Rs 761.11 crore and 39.4 km stretch of NH from Duburi to Chandikhole with an investment of Rs 789.23 crore.

Expansion of the NH project includes construction of three by-pass roads, one flyover, 19 under pass for vehicles, 9 major and 49 minor bridges and 45 km service roads. Apart from providing improved road connectivity to two industrial districts of Angul and Dhenkanal, the road projects will give a boost to economic activities and create more job opportunities for local youth, said Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Pradhan, who will accompany Gadkari to Kamakhyanagar and Paradip, said the Union Shipping Minister will lay foundation stones for six projects at Paradip Port besides inaugurating multipurpose berth for handling clean cargo, including containers and for diversifying its cargo profile. The capacity of the terminal is 5 million tonne per annum which has been constructed at a cost of Rs 430.78 crore.
Of the six projects for which foundation stones will be laid by Gadkari, include Indian Oil’s 0.6 MTPA capacity LPG import terminal at an estimated cost of Rs 690 crore. The proposed terminal is imperative for enhanced penetration of LPG cooking gas in the eastern region.

The other projects whose foundation stone would be laid include mechanisation of East Quay berths of Paradip Port at an estimated cost of Rs 1437.76crore, development of new coal berth of 10 MTPA capacity at Rs 655.56 crore, installation of container scanner at Rs 40 crore and development of an multi-modal logistic park at a cost of Rs 200 crore over an area of 100 acres.

The Union Minister will launch ‘Bharat Maan Ke Baat Modi Ke Saath’ campaign, a part of the BJP’s public outreach campaign ahead of the general election, here in the city and interact with intellectuals.