PM GatiShakti NPG reviews Rourkela-Sithiyo highway project for enhanced connectivity

Bhubaneswar: The Network Planning Group (NPG), a multimodal body constituted under the PM GatiShakti initiative, on Wednesday reviewed seven road projects, including a proposed highway linking Rourkela in Odisha with Sithiyo in Jharkhand.

According to an official release issued by the ministry of commerce and industry, the road transport and highways ministry has proposed a 156.1-km long, four-lane, access-controlled greenfield highway between Rourkela and Sithiyo. The road will pass through five districts across Odisha and Jharkhand and aims to improve inter-state connectivity and support business and industrial activity in both states.


The proposed corridor is planned to align with PM GatiShakti economic nodes, including a seafood cluster and a special economic zone (SEZ). Officials said the alignment is intended to strengthen regional linkages and facilitate smoother movement of goods and people across the two states.

The highway is also expected to interface with key social and logistics nodes and connect to major national and international transport corridors. These include the Asian Highway Network, NH-53 and NH-19, the Raipur-Dhanbad corridor, and the Golden Quadrilateral.

Officials said the project is expected to enhance mobility, improve logistics efficiency, and strengthen connectivity between Odisha, Jharkhand and neighbouring states by providing a faster, more reliable route and reducing travel time on existing roads.

The NPG meeting stressed upon improving multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency in line with the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan. The group also evaluated other road proposals from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Territory of Ladakh, and a project spanning Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.