Cabinet Gives Nod For Railway Projects Worth Rs 18,568 Crore In Three States

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Friday gave its nod for four multi-tracking projects of the Ministry of Railways, that are aimed at reducing logistic cost, decreasing oil imports and contribute to lower carbon dioxide emissions, according to an official release.

The projects, worth Rs 18,658 crore, will cover 15 districts across three states — Maharashtra, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. They will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 1,247 kilometres.

"The enhanced line capacity will improve mobility, providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. These multi-tracking proposals will ease operations and reduce congestion, providing the much-required infrastructural development on the busiest sections across Indian Railways," the release stated.

These four projects pertain to the "Sambalpur–Jarapda 3rd and 4th Line" and "Jharsuguda–Sason 3rd and 4th Line" in Odisha, "Kharsia–Naya Raipur–Parmalkasa 5th and 6th Line" in Chhattisgarh, and "Gondia – Balharshah doubling" in Maharashtra.

With these projects 19 new stations will be constructed, enhancing connectivity to two aspirational districts, Gadchiroli and Rajnandgaon, the government said.

The multi-tracking projects will cumulatively enhance connectivity to approximately 3,350 villages and about 47.25-lakh population. They will also generate direct employment for about 379 lakh human-days during construction.

The Kharsia–Naya Raipur–Parmalkasa will provide direct connectivity to new areas such as Baloda Bazar, which will create possibilities for setting up of new industrial units including cement plants in the region, the release added.

"These are essential routes for transportation of commodities such as agriculture products, fertiliser, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, limestone etc," it further said.

The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of around 88.77 million tonnes per annum.

With the Railways being an energy-efficient mode of transportation, the multi-tracking projects help both in achieving climate goals and minimising logistics cost of the country, the release said. They are expected to reduce oil import by around 95 crore litres, lower carbon dioxide emissions of 477 crore kg, which is equivalent to plantation of 19 crore trees, it added.