The Cabinet on Thursday (August 6) approved the development of 135.871 km, four-lane access-controlled Guwahati-Tezpur Corridor of NH-15 in Assam. According to an official statement, the project will be developed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) Toll Mode at a total cost of Rs 8970.20 crore.
The project envisages construction of an Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) (4.9 Km) in Tezpur Bypass, which have been finalised in coordination with IAF and would decongest existing NH-27 (East-West Corridor) on the south side of the Brahmaputra River.
Project to include construction of five bypasses
The project includes construction of five major bypasses of length 58.7 Km, thereby easing congestion on stretches passing through densely populated areas such as Baihata Chariali, Sipajhar, Kharupetia, Dekiajuli, Tezpur.
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, with 210 Km of service road also constructed as part of the project to maintain cross movement of traffic, as the project is proposed to be developed as access-controlled.
The project will increase average travel speed by 100 per cent, 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.
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 Notes (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.
Cabinet clears Rs 23,731 crore GOBARdhan scheme
The Cabinet has also approved a unified circular bioenergy scheme with an outlay of Rs 23,731 crore aimed at boosting biogas production in the country. The GOBARdhan scheme will be implemented from 2026-27 to 2035-36 and will establish compressed biogas as a major pillar of India’s future energy mix, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a briefing.
The scheme aims to transform the country’s abundant agricultural residue, cattle dung, press mud, municipal organic waste and other biomass resources into clean fuel, organic manure, rural income and national economic value, an official release said.
Through assured demand, remunerative and stable pricing, capital assistance, pipeline infrastructure, credit support and technology development, the GOBARdhan scheme will provide a strong and predictable framework required to take India’s Compressed Biogas (CBG) sector to national scale, it added.
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