Raipur–Visakhapatnam Expressway

Raipur–Visakhapatnam Expressway (NH-130CD), part of Raipur–Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor (EC-15), is an under-construction, six-lane, 464 km (288 mi) long

In Chhattisgarh, it will pass through 4 south-eastern districts at between NH-30 and NH-130C:

• Raipur district
  • south of Raipur, begins at Kurud on intersection of NH-30, NH-130C and SH-22.
• Dhamtari district
  • Kundel
• Kanker district
  • northeast of Kanker, passes near Naharpur
  • immediate east of Kanker, passes through Sarona on SH-6 (Kanker-Mukundpur road).
• Kondagaon district
  • east of Keskal
  • Salna (immediate west of Kundel), enters Odisha here

Odisha

In Odisha, it will pass through 2 south-western-most districts on eastern and western side of NH-26 in Nabarangpur and Koraput districts, respectively:

• Nabarangpur district, runs along the eastern side of NH-26.
  • Sunapali, enters Odisha here.
  • west of Raighar
  • west of Umerkote
  • west of Dabugaon
  • west of Papadahandi
  • west of Nabarangpur
• Koraput district, runs along the western side of NH-26.
  • east of Kotpad (east of)
  • Gaudaguda, moves from west to east side of NH-26.
  • east of Borigumma
  • immediate east of Raniguda
  • immediate east of Koraput
  • immediate east of Sunabeda, south of Sunabeda; it moves from east to west side of NH-26.
  • Pottangi
  • Ondarangi on the border of Odisha-Andhra Pradesh, exits Odisha and enters Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh

In Andhra Pradesh, it will pass only through one district in northeast Andhra Pradesh, on the western side of NH-26:

• Vizianagaram district
  • west of Salur
  • west of Gajapathinagaram
  • west of Vizianagaram
  • between
    Anakapalle-Rajapulova
    Road.

The expressway will be fully six-lane, access-controlled and a greenfield project. It is being built using the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) mode of construction. The land acquisition and the bidding process for the project is fully completed, except three packages in the Odisha section, and construction is ongoing on most of the expressway's route. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project was made by the South Korean firm, YONGMA Engineering Co. Ltd. – Arkitechno Consultants. The project has been divided into 19 packages. The following table lists the packages, contractors and their statuses.^[5]

Chhattisgarh

Odisha

Andhra Pradesh

Benefits

The expressway will benefit Central India along with the entire country as follows:^[6]

• Trade: The expressway has been planned specially to boost exports from
  Asia-Pacific, i.e., China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia
  , etc., the main countries to where the minerals get exported.
• Tourism: The expressway will help to facilitate tourism by developing backward and relatively unknown areas in the Dandakaranya and the Eastern Ghats regions, due to the presence of a high level of tourist spots dotted across the three states, also major destinations like Araku Valley, along the expressway's route, and several wildlife parks, sanctuaries including some national parks, such as Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuary, Indravati National Park, Amravati Forest Range, Ambapani Sanctuary, etc.
• Connectivity: The expressway will not only create a direct route from Raipur to Visakhapatnam, but in the coming years, will also see the entire Central India get connected directly with the rest of the country, through other expressways, even internationally, with Nepal. These links will altogether result in faster, safer and better commute and transportation of goods and people to and from the country.
• Protection of the Environment: To ensure the protection of the green cover and the environment, as the expressway will pass through the Eastern Ghats, the entire route of it will have plants and trees in between and along its both sides. To avoid noise and light pollution affecting the environment, noise barriers will be installed on both sides, which will block noise, as well as light, on all forest sections of the expressway. Other procedures undertaken are the usage of sustainable construction methods and the construction of tunnels along hilly sections.
• Employment: Due to increase in industrial activities along the expressway's route, various agricultural and industrial initiatives to help the state's economy and growth. The establishment of these numerous centres will result in multiple job possibilities for thousands of people living in both the states.

Proposed future connectivity

Following additional connectivity has been proposed by constructing new links with the expressway:

NCR-CMC hubs of Bhatinda-Hisar-Jaipur-Gwalior

There is a proposal to link this corridor to north-western India by a combination of constructing greenfield stretches and upgrading existing roads through

• Connect to Bhatinda to connect to
  Pathankot–Ajmer Expressway and Amritsar–Jamnagar Expressway
  .
• Bhatinda-Hisar: Greenfield alignment from Bhatinda - Kullan (between
  Meham. As an independent project, it will continue to NH-9, Kalanaur, north of Beri, Western Peripheral Expressway and Bahadurgarh
  .
• Hisar-
  Bahal to Norangpura
  (west of Pilani) to Baragaon (south of Jhunjuhunu on Rajasthan SH-32).
• Jhunjhunu-Jaipur: greenfield Baragaon-Raghunathpura, upgrade existing from Raghunathpura-Udaipurwati-Kotri Luharwas, greenfield from Kotri Luharwas to Khandela Mod bus stand, upgrade existing route from Khandela Mod bus stand to Srimadhopur-Reengus to connect it to NH-52. From there greenfield alignment to Tonk via Reengus-Hasteda-Gori Ka Bas-Lalpura-Bagru-Phagi-Galod-Tonk resulting in direct access to another NCR CMS city of Kota.
• Chambal River, this requires the construction of a greenfield highway and a road-cum-rail bridge over the river, between Karauli-Taintara and/or Sirmathura-Joura with 2 spurs on eastern flank of Chambal - one each to connect to Gwalior and Datia.