Union Cabinet approves 2 rail projects worth ₹ 6,798 crore in 3 states

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Oct 23 approved two rail projects covering Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Bihar with a total estimated cost of ₹ 6,798 crore, the officials said.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Modi, approved the doubling of the Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga and Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur section in Bihar covering 256 km and construction of a new line between Errupalem and Namburu via Amaravati covering 57 km.

Both these projects will mainly benefit Andhra Pradesh and Bihar states where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal-United (JDU) respectively.

“The doubling of Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga & Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur Section will strengthen the connectivity to Nepal, Northeast India, and border areas and facilitating the movement of passenger trains along with goods train resulting in the socio-economic growth of the region,” an official statement said.

“The new rail line project Errupalem-Amaravati-Namburu traverses through NTR Vijayawada and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh and Khammam district of Telangana,” it added.

According to the statement, these two projects covering eight districts in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Bihar will increase the existing network of Indian railways by about 313 km.

Highlighting the benefits of these two projects, it said the new line project will provide connectivity to approximately 168 villages and about 12 lakh population with 9 new stations.

Besides, it added, the multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to two aspirational districts (Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur) serving approximately 388 villages and about 9 lakh population.

Officials were quoted as saying that these are essential routes for the transportation of commodities such as agricultural products, fertilizer, coal, iron ore, steel, and cement.

Talking about the impact on freight operations, it mentioned that the capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 31 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum).

“The Railways being an environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimizing logistics cost of the country, lower CO2 emissions (168 Crore Kg) which is equivalent to the plantation of 7 crore trees,” the statement said.

“The new line proposal will provide direct connectivity to ‘Amaravati’, the proposed capital of Andhra Pradesh, and improve mobility for industries and the population, providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways,” it added.

The statement also highlighted the benefits of the multi-tracking proposal which will ease operations and reduce congestion, providing the much-required infrastructural development on the busiest sections across Indian railways.