Centre Clears ₹1,853 Cr Four-Lane Road Project Between Paramakudi and Ramanathapuram

The Union Cabinet approved the upgradation of the 61.4 km long stretch of National Highway 87 (NH-87) from Paramakudi to Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu as a four-lane corridor at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,853 crores. This project will be undertaken through the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM), the Union I & B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed through a Cabinet briefing.

The new four-lane stretch which is about 46.7 km will relieve congestion on the current two-lane road linking key destinations of southern India through Madurai, Paramakudi, Ramanathapuram, Mandapam, Rameshwaram, and Dhanushkodi. Traffic on the two-lane road is quite heavy due to severe congestion, especially at urban and semi-urban clustered places along the corridor.

The new highway is expected to enhance efficacious travel, improve safety on roads, and offer better regional connectivity to fast-growing towns including Paramakudi, Sathirakudi, Achundanvayal, and Ramanathapuram. All these towns experience severe traffic bottlenecks, especially on account of increasing population and vehicular travel indeed.

As per the officials, this road would become a vital lifeline connecting religious wonder regions like Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi with the centres of the economy in southern Tamil Nadu. The commissioning of this project is likely to bring in increased tourism alongside industrial development and strengthen local trade logistics.

This development is apart from infrastructure and will have possible socio-economic impacts with direct employment of 8.4 lakh person-days and indirect employment of about 10.45 lakh person-days during the construction stage.

The Centre regards it as a crucial road in the unleashing of the economic potential of the area plus the last mile connectivity of southern Tamil Nadu.

This sanction of the project becomes yet another vigorous shove into the government’s ongoing national highway development program in the direction of the modernization of roads in the country and to propel economic corridors across the country.