The Centre has approved Rs 508.6 crore for strengthening and selectively widening sections of NH-14 and NH-114 in Birbhum district, a move expected to improve road safety and connectivity across villages, towns and economic centres in the region. Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari announced the approval in a social media post on Saturday.
The project will cover 91.90 km of NH-14 between Bhimgarh and Nalhati via Mallarpur, along with 56.40 km of NH-114 between Surul village and Mallarpur. Together, the approved works will cover 148.30 km of national highways in Birbhum.
According to Gadkari, the highway works will strengthen and widen selected stretches rather than involve uniform widening across the entire project length. The minister said the upgrades would ease congestion, reduce travel time and support safer and more efficient movement for commuters and freight operators.
The two corridors connect settlements and commercial locations within Birbhum and provide routes for the movement of people and goods. The Centre said the project would improve connectivity between villages, towns and key economic centres, while also supporting regional trade, local businesses and wider economic activity.
The approval places road capacity and safety improvements at the centre of the project, but the announcement does not specify the construction schedule, the exact stretches to be widened or the implementation agency and tender timeline. Details on land requirements, traffic management during construction and the project’s completion deadline were also not provided in the announcement.
The highway approval comes a week after the Centre cleared Rs 1,175 crore for a 6.9-km, six-lane bridge across the Teesta river at Sevoke on NH-10. That project is separate from the Birbhum works and concerns a strategic highway corridor in north Bengal.
For Birbhum, the next milestones will be the release of project-level details, tendering and the start of work on the identified stretches. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is expected to provide further information on the implementation schedule and construction packages.
