The government of Kerala will provide around Rs 16.29 billion for the construction of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) from Vizhinjam to Navaikulam in Thiruvananthapuram. Previously, the delays in reaching a cost-sharing consensus for land acquisition between the Kerala government and the Centre had impeded progress.
The ORR, is a greenfield alignment that will connect the Vizhinjam port to Kallamballam Junction on national highway-66, leading to Mangalapuram Junction and Kollam. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) will cover 50 per cent of the land acquisition cost, approximately Rs 9.30 billion. An additional Rs 4.77 billion for service road construction will come from the Major Infrastructure Development Projects (MIDP) scheme, with the amount to be repaid to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) within five years.