Vijayawada-Guntur express highway receives Centre’s approval

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has started work on the construction of the Vijayawada-Nagpur Express Highway. The Greenfield-Brownfield Express Highway will connect Vidarbha in Maharashtra with the aim of further accelerating the transportation of industrial and agricultural products. The NHAI has approved a plan to build a total of 457 km of roads at a cost of Rs 14,000 crore. The feasibility report and DPRs have already been finalised.

The Vijayawada-Nagpur Express Highway will be constructed under five packages. Among them, Vijayawada-Khammam, Khammam-Warangal, Warangal-Manchiryala packages will be constructed as Greenfield Express Highways. Manchiryala-Repallewada, Repallewada-Chandrapur packages will be constructed as Brownfield Express Highways. This road connects Chandrapur to Nagpur with the existing 4-lane Express Highway. A total of 310 km of Greenfield and 147 km of Brownfield Express Highway are being developed.

This highway will greatly reduce the cost and hassle of traveling between Vijayawada and Nagpur. At present, the distance from Vijayawada to Nagpur is 770 km via Hyderabad and Adilabad. It takes about 13 hours. The new express highway will be constructed from Vijayawada via Khammam, Warangal and Mancherial.

This reduces the distance between Vijayawada and Nagpur by 163 km and takes about five hours. With the DPR already prepared, the NHAI has expedited consultations with the AP, Telangana and Maharashtra governments on the land acquisition process. The Revenue Department is preparing for the acquisition of about 1.65 lakh square meters of land in Vijayawada Rural, G. Kondur and Gampalagudem mandals. NHAI aims to complete the tender process by December and complete the construction of this expressway by 2025.