Cabinet approves four railway projects covering 574 km in six states
The capacity increase is projected to handle an additional freight traffic of about 95.91 million tonnes per annum.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved four multitracking railway projects. These projects will cover 13 districts across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand. They will add about 574 km to the Indian Railways network. The total estimated cost is Rs 11,169 crore, and the projects are planned for completion by 2028-29.
The approved projects include the Itarsi–Nagpur fourth line, Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar)–Parbhani doubling, Aluabari Road–New Jalpaiguri third and fourth lines, and Dangoaposi–Jaroli third and fourth lines. The Ministry of Railways stated that the increased line capacity will help improve mobility, operational efficiency, and service reliability.
According to the government, these projects are planned under the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan, aiming to enhance multi-modal connectivity and logistics efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder consultations. The new lines are expected to provide better connectivity for about 2,309 villages with a population of around 43.6 lakh.
These routes are significant for transporting coal, cement, clinker, gypsum, fly ash, containers, agricultural commodities, and petroleum products. The capacity increase is projected to handle an additional freight traffic of about 95.91 million tonnes per annum.
The ministry highlighted that railways, as an environment-friendly mode of transport, will contribute to climate goals by reducing oil imports by 16 crore litres and lowering COâ‚‚ emissions by 515 crore kilogrammes, equivalent to planting 20 crore trees.
