Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two railway projects worth ₹6,798 crore today. These projects are -- the doubling of the Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi --Darbhanga & Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur Section covering 256 km and the construction of the new line between Errupalem and Namburu via Amaravati covering 57 km.
A statement says the doubling of the Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga & Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur Section will strengthen the connectivity to Nepal, North-east India and border areas and facilitate the movement of passenger trains along with goods trains. The Errupalem-Amaravati-Namburu line traverses through NTR Vijayawada and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh and Khammam district of Telangana.
The two projects will cover 8 districts in 3 states i.e., Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar and will increase the Indian railways network by about 313 km. The government says the new lines will provide connectivity to 168 villages and about 12 lakh people with 9 new stations. The multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to 2 aspirational districts (Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur), which have 388 villages and 9 lakh people.
The approved lines are essential routes for the transportation of commodities such as agricultural products, fertiliser, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, etc. "The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 31 MTPA (million tonnes per annum). The railways being environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimising logistics cost," a statement says.
Besides, the new line will provide direct connectivity to “Amaravati”, the proposed capital of Andhra Pradesh. The projects will be carried out under the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity.
The Centre had approved three railway projects with a total estimated cost of ₹6,456 crore in August 2024. These cover seven districts in four states -- Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh and will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 300 kilometres.
With these projects, 14 new stations will be constructed, providing enhancing connectivity to two districts Nuapada and East Singhbum and will provide connectivity to around 1,300 villages and about 11 lakh population.
In the Union Budget 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed a record railway capital expenditure (Capex) of ₹2.62 lakh crore. The gross budgetary support for the same period was set at ₹2.52 lakh crore, up from ₹2.4 lakh crore in 2023-24. The data shows railways has commissioned 31,180 track kilometres in the past decade.
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