Cabinet nod to Rs 11,662-crore railway lines, electrification projects

To boost railway connectivity and ease congestion in eastern and central India, the CCEA on Tuesday approved doubling, new-line and electrification projects worth Rs 11,662 crore, which are expected to create 211.74 lakh mandays of work.

By: FE Bureau | New Delhi | Published: February 21, 2018 

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the setting up of a National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) amounting to Rs 60,000 crore over a period of four years, which would finance the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Urban). (AP)

To boost railway connectivity and ease congestion in eastern and central India, the CCEA on Tuesday approved doubling, new-line and electrification projects worth Rs 11,662 crore, which are expected to create 211.74 lakh mandays of work. These projects will likely ease commuting in states such as Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, apart from northeastern parts of the country. The projects include doubling and electrification of Muzaffarpur-Sagauli (100.6 km), Sagauli-Valmiki Nagar (109.7 km), the 425-km long Jhansi-Manikpur and Bhimsen-Khairar, and Bhatni-Aurnihar (116.95 km) lines. The districts covered under the projects include Muzaffarpur, East Champaran (Motihari) and West Champaran (Bettiah) in Bihar, Jhansi, Mahoba, Banda, Chitrakut Dham, Deoria, Ballia, Mau and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, and Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh. In addition, 130-km long Jeypore-Malkangiri new line will be laid which will cover Koraput and Malkangiri districts in Odisha.

Most of the projects are expected to be completed by 2022-23. The Cabinet also gave its ex-post facto approval to the cooperation agreement signed on December 14, 2017 between India and the Moroccan National Railways Office to develop long-term cooperation and partnership in different areas of the railway sector.