New Delhi, February 24 – The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved three multi-tracking railway projects across four states, with an investment of ₹9,072 crore.
The projects include the doubling of the Gondia-Jabalpur line, the construction of the 3rd and 4th lines in Punaruk-Kiul, and the 3rd and 4th lines in Gamharia-Chandil. These three projects will cover eight districts across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand, increasing the existing network of Indian Railways by approximately 307 km and are scheduled to be completed by 2030-30.
The proposed multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to around 54,070 villages, with a population of approximately 9.8 million.
The proposed capacity enhancement will also improve rail connectivity to several prominent tourist destinations across the country, including the Kachnar Shiv Temple (Jabalpur), the Kanha National Park (Balaghat), the Gangulpara Dam and Waterfall, the Pench National Park, the Dhuandhar waterfall, the Bargi Dam, the Gomji-Somji temple, the Chandil Dam, the Dalma Hill Top, the Hesakocha Waterfall, the Raijama Ghati, and the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary.
The increased line capacity will significantly enhance mobility, resulting in improved operational efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. These multi-tracking proposals are poised to streamline operations and alleviate congestion. The projects are in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a New India, which will make the people of the region "Atmanirbhar" through comprehensive development in the area to enhance their employment opportunities, according to an official statement.
The projects are planned on the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan with a focus on enhancing multi-modal connectivity and logistic efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder consultations. These projects will provide seamless connectivity for the movement of people, goods, and services, the statement said.
The projects are essential routes for the transportation of commodities such as coal, steel, iron ore, cement, ballast and stone chips, fly ash, fertilisers, limestone, manganese, dolomite, foodgrains, POL, etc. The capacity augmentation works will result in an additional freight traffic of 52 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum). The Railways, being an environment-friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help in achieving climate goals and minimizing logistics costs, reduce oil import (6 crore litres) and lower CO2 emissions (30 crore kg), which is equivalent to planting one crore trees, the statement added.