The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved four projects of the Ministry of Railways with a total cost of around Rs. 9,450 crore. These projects include the 173km long Kharagpur-Bhadrak (Ranital) 4th line, 75km Bhadrak – Haridaspur 4th line, 90km Gummidipundi – Gudur 3rd and 4th Line, and the 72km Cuttack – Paradeep (Badabandha) 3rd and 4th line.
“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 government’s statement read. “These projects are planned on PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan with focus on enhancing multi-modal connectivity and logistic efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder consultations. “The proposed projects are essential routes for transportation of commodities such as coal, iron ore, cement, iron and steel, container, automobile, food grains, etc.
The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 76 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum). The Railways being environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimizing logistics cost of the country, reduce oil import (around 13 crore litres) and lower CO2 emissions (around 65 crore kg) which is equivalent to plantation of 2.60 crore trees” the government’s statement read
These projects will provide seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods, and services,” the government said.
