Cabinet approves four railway multitracking projects worth Rs 9,450-Cr
New Delhi, Aug 19 (TNT): The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved four railway multitracking projects with an estimated cost of around Rs 9,450 crore.
The projects, covering eight districts in West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, will add around 410 km to the existing Indian Railways network and are scheduled to be completed by 2030-31.
The approved projects are Kharagpur-Bhadrak (Ranital) four-line project covering 173 km, Bhadrak-Haridaspur four-line project covering 75 km, Gummidipundi-Gudur three and four-line project covering 90 km and Cuttack-Paradeep (Badabandha) three and four-line project covering 72 km.
The projects are expected to increase rail capacity, ease congestion and improve operational efficiency and service reliability.
They have been planned under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, with a focus on multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency.
The projects will provide improved connectivity to around 6,448 villages with a population of about 60 lakh, according to the government.
The upgraded routes will facilitate the transportation of commodities including coal, iron ore, cement, iron and steel, containers, automobiles and foodgrains.
The capacity enhancement is expected to generate additional freight traffic of around 76 million tonnes per annum.
The projects will also improve connectivity to several tourist destinations, including Pulicat Lake, Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary, Lord Veeraraghava Perumal Temple, Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhitarkanika National Park and Chandipur Beach.
The government said the projects would help reduce logistics costs and oil imports while contributing to climate goals.
The capacity augmentation is expected to save around 13 crore litres of oil imports and reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 65 crore kg, equivalent to the plantation of around 2.60 crore trees.
TNT KS
