The Union cabinet on Thursday approved the construction of a 135.87-km four-lane access-controlled highway corridor between Baihata Chariali near Guwahati and Tezpur in Assam at an estimated cost of ₹8,970.2 crore.

Union Cabinet cleared a 135.87-km four-lane Assam highway with an emergency landing facility, bypasses and improved connectivity across the Northeast. (ANI/ Representative photo)

The project is expected to halve travel time, ease congestion, and improve connectivity to key industrial, tourism, and logistics hubs across the Northeast.

The project includes a 4.9-km Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) on the Tezpur Bypass, planned in coordination with the Indian Air Force, and is expected to decongest the existing NH-27 corridor south of the Brahmaputra River. The corridor on NH-15 excludes the 15.11-km Mangaldoi Bypass.

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The upgraded corridor will strengthen connectivity to eight PM Gati Shakti economic nodes, two aspirational districts—Darrang and Udalguri—three major tourist destinations, including Kaziranga and Orang national parks and the Kamakhya Temple, and seven logistics hubs comprising railway stations, airports, and inland waterway terminals, the government said.

The project is expected to double average travel speeds, reduce travel time by around 50%, improve road safety, enhance fuel efficiency, and lower vehicle operating costs.

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The project will be developed under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) toll model as part of the National Highways (Original) programme.

The highway will feature five major bypasses spanning 58.7 km to ease congestion in Baihata Chariali, Sipajhar, Kharupetia, Dekiajuli, and Tezpur. Other works include 15 major bridges, 30 minor bridges, 19 flyovers, 46 underpasses, an elephant underpass on the Tezpur Bypass, and about 210 km of service roads.