Bhubaneswar, Feb. 29: The Odisha government has threatened to initiate action against the agency entrusted with the double-laning work of Cuttack-Paradip road that has been delayed by two years.

The government has asked the agency to expedite the work. The project started in 2007 and was supposed to be over by 2010. The issue came to light when Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik chaired a review meeting last night.

The Odisha government, after signing an MoU with Posco to set up a steel plant, had decided to construct a double-lane road from Cuttack to Paradip to expedite movement of minerals to Paradip port from the mineral belts of the state. However, slow progress in land acquisition process and forest clearance have delayed the expansion work. Earlier, the work was awarded to two construction companies — Mumbai-based Niraj Group and the ARSS. As the work got delayed, government had threatened to initiate action against these two executing agencies. Later, the government slapped a fine of Rs 5 crore on the Niraj Group for delaying the project.

Chief engineer of state works department Bijan Behera said: “Now, the work has been taken over by the ARSS. We hope to complete the project by December.”

The Odisha Mining Corporation has earmarked Rs 20 crore for the project. The Odisha government is supposed to bear rest of the funds. Out of the 82km stretch of the road, double-laining of 43km stretch has been done.

ARSS team leader for the project B.K. Sahu said: “Today we held a meeting on this project. We are hopeful that the road expansion would be completed by December.”