Union Cabinet approves railway multitracking projects across Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh for Rs 18,658 crore

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved four major railway projects covering three states, with a total cost of Rs 18,658 crore.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters at a press conference on Friday that the four projects covering 15 districts in three states–Maharashtra, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh–will increase the existing Indian Railways network by about 1,247 km.

These projects include the Sambalpur–Jarapda 3rd and 4th Lines, the Jharsuguda–Sason 3rd and 4th Lines, the Kharsia–Naya Raipur–Parmalkasa 5th and 6th Lines, and the Gondia–Balharshah doubling.

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.

With these projects, 19 New Stations will be constructed, enhancing connectivity to Two Aspirational Districts (Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh). The multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to approximately 3350 villages and about 47.25 lakh people.

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

These are essential routes for the transportation of commodities such as agricultural products, fertilizer, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, limestone, etc. The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 88.77 MTPA (million tonnes per annum).

The Railways, being an environment-friendly and energy-efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimizing the logistics cost of the country, reduce oil import (95 Crore Litres) and lower CO2 emissions (477 Crore Kg), which is equivalent to the planting of 19 Crore trees.