¨     The highway projects in Maharashtra and Odisha approved by Union Cabinet.

¨     Two major highway projects in Maharashtra and Odisha were approved by the Union Cabinet to strengthen integrated transport infrastructure.
¨     The approvals were granted by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs under the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan framework.
¨     A 6-lane greenfield access-controlled Nashik–Solapur–Akkalkot corridor of 374 kilometres was approved in Maharashtra.
¨     The Maharashtra corridor project was sanctioned at a capital cost of 19,142 crore rupees.
¨     The corridor is expected to improve connectivity to cities such as Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Solapur and Kurnool.
¨     The project is designed for a speed of 100 km per hour and is expected to reduce travel time to about 17 hours.
¨     Around 251.06 lakh man-days of direct employment and 313.83 lakh man-days of indirect employment are expected to be generated.
¨     The widening and strengthening of NH-326 in Odisha, covering about 206 kilometres, was also approved.
¨     The NH-326 project involves a capital cost of 1,526.21 crore rupees and will benefit aspirational districts like Gajapati, Rayagada and Koraput.
Since June 2024, infrastructure projects worth over 12.6 lakh crore rupees have been approved during the third term of the Modi government.