NHAI's Rs. 2,000 Crore Project: Nagpur's Ring Road Ready

Nagpur's long-awaited 64-km Outer Ring Road, constructed at a cost of Rs. 2,000 crore, is set to become fully operational by the first week of March. This project, spearheaded by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), is designed to alleviate congestion by redirecting heavy traffic from city roads and enhancing connectivity to the outskirts of Nagpur.

While the first 37 km of the road is already open, the remaining 27 km will be completed and opened next month. The ring road begins at Jamtha on Wardha Road and stretches through key areas such as the Samruddhi Expressway junction, Katol Road, Koradi, Fetri, and the Nagpur-Jabalpur Highway before concluding at the Nagpur bypass near Kapsi. The second phase will connect Fetri to Kapsi, completing the circular route.

Once fully operational, the Outer Ring Road will allow highway traffic to completely bypass the city. Trucks traveling from Hyderabad will have a direct route to Jabalpur, while vehicles from Betul in Madhya Pradesh can head straight to Bhandara, further connecting to Kolkata. Additionally, traffic from Amravati Road in the west will have easy access to Bhandara Road in the east.

This new road complements an existing bypass near Kapsi, which already facilitates uninterrupted highway travel, avoiding city congestion. While Nagpur also has an inner ring road built by the PWD, the increasing traffic demands prompted NHAI to propose a larger outer ring road.

The distance between the inner and outer ring roads varies, with the shortest gap being 5 km near Koradi and ranging between 8 to 10 km in other areas, sources revealed.

News by Rahul Yelligetti.