Rs 3,600 cr Nellore–Badvel highway project set to take off

Tirupati: The much-awaited Nellore–Badvel National Highway development works are set to begin soon, significantly improving road connectivity between three major industrial corridors in Andhra Pradesh. According to Nellore TDP MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the construction of a four-lane corridor between Nellore and Badvel in Kadapa district last year. The 108-km stretch, to be developed at a cost of ₹3,600 crore on Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) mode, is part of National Highway-67. Vemireddy said the approved Badvel–Nellore corridor will enhance connectivity to key nodes in Andhra Pradesh's three industrial corridors — the Kopparthy node on the Visakhapatnam–Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), the Orvakal node on the Hyderabad–Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (HBIC), and the Krishnapatnam node on the Chennai–Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC). He noted that the project would have a positive impact on the country's Logistics Performance Index (LPI).The corridor will start from Gopavaram village on the existing NH-67 in YSR Kadapa district and terminate at the Krishnapatnam Port junction on NH-16 (Chennai–Kolkata) in SPSR Nellore district. It will also provide strategic connectivity to Krishnapatnam Port, which has been identified as a priority node under the CBIC. The MP said the project will reduce the travel distance to Krishnapatnam Port by 33.9 km — from the existing 142 km to 108.13 km — and cut travel time by nearly an hour. This, he added, will lead to substantial savings in fuel consumption, lower vehicle operating costs, and a reduced carbon footprint. Vemireddy said the 108.134-km project is expected to generate around 20 lakh man-days of direct employment and 23 lakh man-days of indirect employment, besides creating additional job opportunities through increased economic activity along the corridor.