SUDHIR KUMAR / NEW DELHI
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved two rail projects with an estimated cost of 6,798 crore rupees to provide connectivity, facilitate ease of travel, and minimize logistics costs.
The first project involves the doubling of the railway line from Narkatiaganj to Raxaul, Sitamarhi, and Darbhanga, as well as the Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur section, covering 256 kilometres in Bihar. This project will strengthen connectivity to Nepal, Northeast India, and border areas, facilitating the movement of passenger trains alongside goods trains, and resulting in the socio-economic growth of the region.
Briefing the media in New Delhi after the Union Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the doubling of the railway line in Bihar has been approved for four thousand 453 crore rupees. The project will connect Ayodhya to Sitamarhi, Kathmandu, Janakpur, and Lumbini. Mr. Vaishnaw added that the project will generate 87 lakh human days of employment.
Mr Vaishnaw also informed that the CCEA has given its nod to a new railway line for Amaravati, which is the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh. He said a new railway line will be constructed between Errupalem and Namburu via Amaravati, covering 57 kilometres. He mentioned that the new rail line project, Errupalem-Amaravati-Namburu, traverses through NTR Vijayawada and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh and Khammam district of Telangana. He informed that the estimated cost of this project is 2 thousand 245 crore rupees and will provide direct rail connectivity to Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. Mr Vaishnaw added that a 3.2-kilometre-long long new railway bridge will also be constructed on River Krishna. He added that the project will create 19 lakh 19 lakh human days employment.