Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari, announced the 4-laning of the Panaji-Belagavi section of NH-748 in Goa. The 52 km stretch will be developed at an estimated cost of ₹4000 crore. This is the same road where work began earlier in two stages:

  1. Belagavi-Khanapur Section: This section has been completed, with toll active at Ganebail. The 4-laning of the Belagavi-Khanapur Section (Km 0.000-Km 30.800) of NH-4A in Karnataka was awarded to M/s Ashoka Concessions Ltd., covering 30 km.
  2. Khanapur-Anmod Section: This section remains incomplete. The project involved 2-laning with a paved shoulder from Km 30+800 to Km 70+800 and 2-laning without a paved shoulder from Km 70+800 to the Karnataka/Goa border Km 84+120, awarded to M/s Dilip Buildcon Ltd.

Delays were caused by a High Court stay obtained by environmentalists from Bengaluru in 2019. The stay was vacated in March 2021, with the Karnataka High Court ruling that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) did not need prior environmental clearance to widen NH-4A. Despite this, Dilip Buildcon withdrew due to heavy losses from the court stay and COVID-19 lockdowns.

Currently, the road’s condition near Gunji (Khanapur to Ramnagar) is poor, with unfinished bypass work causing flooding and trenches. The new ₹4000 crore sanction aims to complete this long-delayed project, initially valued at ₹486.78 crore in 2018.