- The Union Cabinet approved a Rs 8,970 crore four-lane expressway on NH-15 in Assam
- The 135.871 km highway connects Baihata Chariali near Guwahati to Tezpur on a BOT toll mode
- It includes a 4.9 km emergency landing facility planned with the Indian Air Force on Tezpur Bypass
The Union Cabinet approved a four-lane expressway along the NH-15 national highway in Assam, with an outlay of Rs 8,970 crore, according to a press briefing on Thursday headed by Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister of Railways.
The highway spans a distance of 135.871 km. It is a 4-lane access-controlled highway from Baihata Chariali near Guwahati to Tezpur along NH-15 in Assam.
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It will be developed on a Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) toll mode; this involves a private company paying for the construction and maintenance of the public good, recovering its investment via the collection of toll fees from users utilising the structure.
The highway includes a 4.9 km emergency landing facility (ELF) on the Tezpur Bypass which was planned in coordination with the Indian Air Force. It is expected to provide "seamless connectivity to key economic, social and logistics hubs across Assam and Arunachal Pradesh", as per the government's release.
In addition, the project has provision for 15 major bridges, 30 minor bridges, 19 flyovers, 1 elephant underpass (in Tezpur bypass), 46 underpasses and 19 flyovers.
The project will increase average travel speed by 100%, reduce travel time to half, improve overall road safety, enhance fuel efficiency, and lower vehicle operating costs, thereby enhancing regional mobility and socio-economic development, it added.
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The project will provide seamless connectivity to key economic, social, and logistics nodes across Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Additionally, the upgraded corridor will enhance connectivity to eight PM Gati-Shakti Economic Nodes (8 Industrial Parks), two Social Nodes (2 Aspirational districts of Darrang and Udalguri), three Tourist Nodes (Maa Kamakhaya Temple, Kaziranga National Park, Orang National Park) and seven Logistic Nodes (3 Major Railway Stations, 2 Airports, 2 Waterway Terminals), facilitating faster movement of goods and passengers across the region.
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