The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today approved the widening of the existing Armoor-Jagtial-Mancherial Section of National Highway (NH)-63 on the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM). Additionally, the Jagtial-Karimnagar section of National Highway (NH)-563 was also approved for four-laning on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT-Toll) mode under three work packages, covering a combined total length of 190.76 km at a total capital cost of Rs 7,597.16 crore.Also read: Cabinet approves Rs 4,415 crore upgrade of 233 km NH-347B in Madhya Pradesh The project section of Armoor-Jagtial-Mancherial passes through Nizamabad, Jagtial, and Mancherial Districts of Telangana, facing severe congestion at present due to several built-up areas along the highway, such as Anksapoor, Korutla, Jagtial, Dharmapuri, Lakshettipet and Mancherial. Similarly, the Jagtial- Karimnagar section passes through severely congested and heavily built-up places along the stretch, such as Jagtial, Potharam, Gangadhara and Karimnagar. The instant projects are proposed to have a 4-lane configuration with bypasses to built-up areas with open tolling, ensuring design speed of 100 km/hour and improved travel efficiency across the Districts of Nizamabad, Jagtial, Mancherial and Karimnagar in the State of Telangana. The project will also enhance regional mobility and promote socio-economic development. The projects are in line with the PM GatiShakti principles and will connect five Economic Nodes, seven Social Nodes and ten Logistic Nodes. This will have a positive impact on the Logistic Performance Index (LPI) of the country.Also read: Cabinet approves Rs 10,000 crore for ATF price stabilization fund Upon completion, travel time is expected to reduce by about 1 hour and 30 minutes between Armoor and Mancherial and by about 45 minutes between Jagtial and Karimnagar, while providing safe, fast, and uninterrupted connectivity for both passenger and freight traffic. Additionally, the project will result in substantial reductions in fuel consumption, carbon emissions, and vehicle operating costs (VOC).