The Centre has approved a new 1,107-km greenfield national highway corridor from Kharagpur in West Bengal to Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, with the Andhra Pradesh portion estimated to cost around Rs 32,000 crore. The total project cost is expected to exceed Rs 72,000 crore.
Around 457 km of the corridor will pass through Andhra Pradesh, including nearly 200 km through the tribal-dominated Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district. The highway will also traverse Parvathipuram Manyam, Polavaram, East Godavari and Eluru districts before connecting to the Amaravati Outer Ring Road near Agiripalli.
The proposed four-lane corridor is expected to provide an alternative to the congested Kolkata–Chennai National Highway (NH-16) and improve passenger and freight connectivity across remote tribal and agency areas. The route through ASR district will cover Araku, Dumbriguda, Hukumpeta, Paderu, G Madugula, Chintapalli, GK Veedhi and Koyyuru mandals.
Land acquisition proposals are being prepared for more than 128 villages. The acquisition will also involve reserve forest areas in parts of Araku and Dumbriguda mandals. Several villages in Koyyuru, including Garimanda, Vantamarri, Annavaram and Mukudupalli, will also be covered.
The new corridor will run parallel to the NH-516E at certain locations. The Rs 1,600-crore NH-516E connects Vizianagaram with Rajahmundry through Araku, Paderu, Chintapalli and Koyyuru, with more than 60% of the work reportedly completed.
The Kharagpur–Amaravati corridor is expected to strengthen regional connectivity, improve logistics and open up opportunities for trade, agriculture, tourism and economic activity across northern Andhra Pradesh and the tribal belt.