Patna: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the upgradation of the Khagaria–Purnia section of NH-31 and NH-231 to four-lane standards in Bihar under the built-operate-transfer (Toll) mode at a cost of Rs 3,936.05 crore. The total project length is 143.5 km.Chief minister Samrat Choudhary expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for the approval. “This is a historic decision that will give new momentum to Bihar’s development,” he said.According to the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), the project will address several geometric deficiencies, sharp curves and congestion in built-up areas across Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Katihar and Purnia districts.A 6.7-km greenfield bypass of Purnia city will also be developed as part of the project. The ministry said the upgradation is expected to increase average travel speeds, reduce travel time to about two hours, and improve road safety, fuel efficiency and vehicle operating costs, thereby enhancing regional mobility and socio-economic development.“The project will provide seamless connectivity to key economic, social and logistics nodes across Bihar,” MoRTH said. It will also improve multi-modal integration by linking five PM Gati Shakti economic nodes, including one textile cluster, two mega food parks, two fisheries/seafood parks and 11 logistics hubs. These include four major railway stations, one airport in Purnia, four national highways and two state highways.An official said the project is expected to generate 32.59 lakh person-days of direct employment and 40.55 lakh person-days of indirect employment.Choudhary said the project would strengthen connectivity in the Seemanchal and Kosi regions. “It will boost trade, agriculture, industry and tourism by facilitating faster movement of goods and passengers, besides creating new employment opportunities,” he added.
