GUWAHATI, Aug. 6: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the construction of a 135.871-km, four-lane access-controlled Guwahati–Tezpur corridor on National Highway-15 in Assam at an estimated cost of Rs 8,970.20 crore.
According to an official statement, the project will be implemented under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) toll model. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also announced the Cabinet’s approval in a social media post.
The corridor will include a 4.9-km emergency landing facility on the Tezpur bypass, planned in coordination with the Indian Air Force, and is expected to ease congestion on the existing NH-27 along the southern bank of the Brahmaputra.
To improve traffic flow, the project will construct five major bypasses at Baihata Chariali, Sipajhar, Kharupetia, Dekiajuli and Tezpur. It will also include 15 major bridges, 30 minor bridges, 19 flyovers, 46 underpasses and an elephant underpass on the Tezpur bypass.
The government said the corridor is expected to double average travel speeds, halve travel time, improve road safety, enhance fuel efficiency and reduce vehicle operating costs.
The upgraded highway will strengthen connectivity between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh while linking key economic, tourism and logistics hubs, including eight PM Gati Shakti economic nodes, the aspirational districts of Darrang and Udalguri, the Maa Kamakhya Temple, Kaziranga National Park, Orang National Park, and seven logistics hubs comprising major railway stations, airports and inland waterway terminals.
