According to Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday authorized seven Indian Railways multi-tracking projects with an estimated cost of about Rs 32,500 crore.
The Center will completely fund the planned renovations, which would expand the capacity of the current line, improve train performance, lessen traffic, and make travel and transportation easier.
The 35 district projects in the nine states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal will add 2,339 km to the existing Indian Railways network and create an estimated 7.06 crore man-days of employment for the residents of the nine states.
The projects include the quadrupling of the existing line between Samakhiali and Gandhidham, the doubling of the existing line between Guntur and Bipinagar, the doubling of the existing line between Chopan and Chunar, and the third line between Nergundi-Barang and Khurda Road and Vizianagaram.
The transportation of a variety of goods, including food grains, fertilizers, coal, cement, fly ash, iron and finished steel, clinkers, crude oil, lime stone, edible oil, etc., is crucial, according to Vaishnaw.
The capacity augmentation projects will add 200 MTPA (million tons per year) of additional freight traffic.
According to a statement from the ministry, the railways, which are an energy and environmentally beneficial means of transportation, will contribute in lowering national logistics costs as well as in reaching climate targets.
The initiatives, which were made possible by integrated planning and will offer seamless connectivity for the flow of people, commodities, and services, are the outcome of the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan for Multi-Model Connectivity.
Each of these developments, according to Vaishnaw, will significantly shorten passenger travel times.
The projects, he emphasized, are intimately interwoven and should be regarded holistically as they together contribute to the modernization of Indian Railways, underscoring the strategic importance of these initiatives.
