Amaravati, May 28 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Union Cabinet approved the four-lane Badvel-Nellore corridor.

Responding to a post by the Prime Minister on X, the Chief Minister stated that the approval is a major step forward in the state’s growth, boosting regional connectivity and empowering youth.

He thanked Prime Minister Modi and Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari for sanctioning the corridor.

Earlier, the Prime Minister posted that the corridor will benefit the development journey of Andhra Pradesh and generate several opportunities for the youth of the state.

Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan also took to X to thank the Prime Minister, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, for sanctioning the Badvel–Nellore 4-lane highway. “This key project will reduce travel distance to Krishnapatnam Port by 33.9 km, boost industrial connectivity, and strengthen transportation infrastructure, laying a strong foundation for SwarnaAndhra 2047 and contributing to the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. Your leadership and support are driving Andhra Pradesh towards a brighter, stronger and self-reliant,” posted the Jana Sena Party leader.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, approved the construction of the four-lane Badvel-Nellore Corridor with a length of 108.134 km at a cost of Rs 3653.10 crore on NH 67 on Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) Mode.

According to an official release, the approved corridor will provide connectivity to important nodes in the three Industrial Corridors of Andhra Pradesh, i.e., Kopparthy Node on the Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), Orvakal Node on Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (HBIC) and Krishnapatnam Node on Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC). This will have a positive impact on the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) of the country.

Badvel Nellore Corridor starts from Gopavaram Village on the existing National Highway NH-67 in the YSR Kadapa District and terminates at the Krishnapatnam Port Junction on NH-16 (Chennai-Kolkata) in SPSR Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh, and will also provide strategic connectivity to the Krishnapatnam Port, which has been identified as a priority node under Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC).

The proposed corridor will reduce the travel distance to Krishanpatnam port by 33.9 km from 142 km to 108.13 km as compared to the existing Badvel-Nellore road. This will reduce the travel time by one hour and ensure that a substantial gain is achieved in terms of reduced fuel consumption, thereby reducing the carbon footprint and Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC).

–IANS

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