Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari, recently announced in Goa the 4-laning of the Panaji-Belagavi section of NH-748, a 52 km stretch to be developed at an estimated cost of ₹4000 crore.
Many readers questioned whether this was a new project. Our investigation reveals that NH-748 is the highway that starts from its junction with NH-48 near Belagavi, passes through Anmod in Karnataka, Ponda, and terminates at its junction with NH-66 near Panaji in Goa.
This is the same road where work began in two stages:
- Belagavi-Khanapur Section: Completed – Toll Active at Ganebail
- 4-laning of Belagavi-Khanapur Section (Km 0.000-Km 30.800) (Design Chainage Km 0.000 to Km 30.000) of NH-4A in Karnataka on Hybrid Annuity Mode (Package I) was awarded to M/s Ashoka Concessions Ltd.
- Length: 30 km
- Khanapur – Anmod Section: This is the Current incomplete section
- 2-laning with paved shoulder from Km 30+800 to Km 70+800 and 2-laning without paved shoulder from Km 70+800 to the Karnataka/Goa border Km 84+120, awarded to M/s Dilip Buildcon Ltd.
There had been delays in the two-laning of NH-4A due to a High Court stay obtained by environmentalists from Bengaluru in 2019. However, the Karnataka High Court vacated the stay in March 2021, stating that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) did not need prior environmental clearance to widen the Belagavi-Goa highway NH-4A. Despite this, Dilip Buildcon withdrew from the project, citing heavy losses due to the court stay and COVID-19 lockdowns.
Currently, the condition of this road near Gunji (Khanapur to Ramnagar) is dire, with about 4 feet of water on the service road due to unfinished bypass work and a 10-20-foot trench with just pillars.
So now ₹4000 crore has been sanctioned to complete this incomplete project with an initial value of 486.78 Crores in 2018.
