BHUBANESWAR: Union minister Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate and lay the foundation of highway projects worth Rs 4,000 crore in Odisha on Thursday, an official release said.

The Union minister for road transport and highways was welcomed by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and state BJP president Manmohan Samal upon his arrival at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here.

He began his day-long tour of the eastern state by attending the Dr Harekrushna Mahatab Memorial Lecture at Ravenshaw University in Cuttack, commemorating the birth anniversary of the former chief minister.

Gadkari will deliver a memorial lecture on 'Infrastructure Development and Odisha' and attend a national conference on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatab.

The Union minister will visit the World Skill Centre here in the afternoon, the release said.

He will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of 19 national highway projects worth Rs 4,000 crore during a public meeting at Baramunda Maidan here around 4.30 pm.

The projects will cover 105 km of roads across Khurda, Puri, Ganjam, Kandhamal and Nayagarh districts.

Key projects include the four-laning of Banarpal-Godibandha stretch, widening of the Daringbadi Ghat portion on NH-59 and widening of NH-10 (Mangalpur to Kayangola).

"Gadkari is also expected to make some announcements on new infrastructure initiatives and plans to accelerate national highway expansion in Odisha," Works Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said.