CCEA approves ₹7,597 crore highway expansion in Telangana
HYDERABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved major highway widening projects in Telangana. The total project cost stands at ₹7,597.16 crore. The move aims to improve regional road connectivity and reduce travel time.
Key Highway Sections Covered
The project will widen two major corridors to four lanes. These include the Armoor–Jagtial–Mancherial stretch of NH-63 and the Jagtial–Karimnagar stretch of NH-563. Together, they cover 190.76 km.
Authorities will execute the work in three packages. They will use the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT-Toll) model.
Under HAM, officials will develop the Armoor–Jagtial and Jagtial–Mancherial stretches of NH-63. They will take up the Jagtial–Karimnagar section under the BOT (toll) model.
Traffic Congestion and Route Challenges
The corridor passes through Nizamabad, Jagtial, and Mancherial districts. Several urban stretches face heavy congestion.
Key bottlenecks exist in Korutla, Dharmapuri, Lakshettipet, and Mancherial. The Jagtial–Karimnagar route also experiences slow traffic in built-up areas.
Design Features and Connectivity Boost
The upgraded highways will include bypasses around major habitations. Officials will also introduce an open-tolling system.
The roads will support a design speed of 100 kmph. Authorities expect improved regional mobility across Karimnagar, Jagtial, and Mancherial.
The corridors will connect five economic nodes, seven social nodes, and 10 logistics hubs. These include SEZs, food parks, and fisheries clusters.
The project will also improve access to key tourist and cultural sites such as Vemulawada, Kondagattu, and Kaleshwaram.
Multimodal Transport and Time Savings
The upgraded routes will strengthen access to major railway stations. These include Nizamabad, Lingampet/Jagtial, and Peddapalli. This will improve multimodal transport integration.
Officials estimate significant time savings. Travel between Armoor and Mancherial will reduce by about 1 hour 30 minutes. The Jagtial–Karimnagar stretch will save nearly 45 minutes.
Economic Impact and Employment
Authorities expect the project to boost trade and reduce logistics costs. It will also lower fuel consumption and emissions.
A large part of the alignment includes greenfield development. During construction and operations, the project will generate about 34.43 lakh direct man-days and 42.7 lakh indirect man-days of employment.
Traffic data from 2024–25 shows heavy usage on these corridors. Peak volumes reached 20,446 PCUs on the Jagtial–Karimnagar stretch, highlighting the need for expansion.
