Seventeen bidders have placed offers for the coastal highway project linking Rameshwar and Paradip, the government said. The package covers a section valued at Rs 83 billion (bn) and forms part of Odisha's coastal connectivity initiative. The greenfield corridor is part of a 346 km alignment from Rameshwar in Odisha to Digha in West Bengal, a scheme that was announced in 2015 and has been delayed by more than ten years. Bids were invited for a 160 km stretch while the detailed project report is being prepared for the remaining section, and the stretch between Konark and Paradip has been downscaled from four lanes to two based on assessed traffic volumes. The highway is intended to provide an alternative to NH-16 and NH-316 by offering an access-controlled corridor that separates long-distance traffic from heavy local movement, thereby improving travel efficiency. It will traverse the districts of Khordha, Puri, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak and Baleshwar and is expected to improve access to Puri, Konark, Paradip Port and the planned Puri International Airport as well as emerging ports at Astarang and Subarnarekha. Authorities estimate that the corridor could cut travel time between Rameshwar and Paradip by about two-and-a-half hours and that construction would generate 5.36 million (mn) man-days of direct employment and 6.7 million (mn) man-days of indirect employment. The project is expected to reduce fuel consumption, lower carbon emissions and decrease vehicle operating costs, outcomes that the ministry said would support regional economic growth. Existing corridors such as the Puri-Satpada and Puri-Konark stretches have significant ribbon development, with nearly 40 per cent of certain stretches showing roadside development and high local commuter movement, which has limited their suitability for high-speed long-distance traffic. The new access-controlled alignment is intended to separate local and long-distance traffic and to relieve congestion while enhancing logistics efficiency for the eastern coast.