Centre Approves National Highways Worth Rs 13,000 Crore In Odisha In FY26; State Targets To Spend Rs 2,000 Crore By September

The Centre has sanctioned national highway projects worth Rs 13,000 crore in Odisha for the current 2025–26 fiscal year, state Works Minister Prithviraj Harichandan announced on Thursday (15 May).

The Odisha government has set an ambitious target of completing highway construction work amounting to Rs 2,000 crore by September, PTI reported.

“We have to expedite the pace of construction work. We have set a target to make an expenditure of Rs 2,000 crore by September. If we complete the projects on time, we can get (a total of) Rs 13,000 crore (worth highway projects) from the Union government and create a new record on construction of national highways in the state,” said Harichandan.

He also expressed optimism that Odisha could surpass its previous five-year record in terms of national highway expansion.

The minister specifically addressed the long-delayed national highway project between Sambalpur and Cuttack.

Initiated in 2017, the project was originally slated for completion by 2020 but faced significant delays owing to financial constraints faced by the executing agency.

“Now, the issue has been resolved and the work is almost complete, barring some portions. I am confident that the remaining work... will be completed by the end of this year,” he said.

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