Centre to develop Paradip as smart port, smart city, says Gadkari

As part of the Centre’s plan to bring about a speedy development of Odisha, Paradip would be developed into a smart port and smart city at an investment of Rs 40,000 crore, said Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

“The Centre is committed to the speedy development of Odisha. While road network is being expanded in the state, Paradip will be made a smart port and smart city at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore,” the Union Road Transport and Highways minister said.

To begin with Rs 2,700 crore would be provided for the ambitious project and an additional amount of Rs 2,000 crore would be spent to increase the depth of Paradip port to enable it to handle a variety of vessels and cargo. Plans are also afoot to construct a railway line between Paradip and the coal town of Talcher at an investment of Rs 9,000 crore, Gadkari said.

Referring to the road sector, Gadkari said the Centre has spent over Rs 7,000 crore for constructing new highways in Odisha during the last three years and raised the highway length from 4632 km to 6993 km.

Stating that around Rs 1.5 lakh crore is expected to be invested for expansion of highways and roads in the state in the near future, the minister said, the NDA government has increased the road construction rate to 23 km per day.