The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved two major multi-tracking railway projects worth Rs 3,399 crore in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The projects aim to boost the speed and efficiency of passenger and freight transportation. The sanctioned developments include the construction of the third and fourth lines between Ratlam and Nagda, and a fourth line between Wardha and Balharshah. The government emphasized that the initiatives will enhance capacity, reduce congestion, and improve overall railway connectivity in the region.
According to an official, both projects covering four districts across the states of Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 176 km. The proposed multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to approx 784 villages having a population of about 19.74 lakh.
According to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, these two projects will give a boost to infrastructure in the country in the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Chennai economic corridors, removing the traffic bottlenecks. He added that during the third term of the Modi government, projects worth more than Rs 4.5 lakh crore have been approved in the transport and infrastructure sector in the country.
The official further stated that these are essential routes for transportation of commodities such as coal, cement, clinker, gypsum, fly ash, containers, agriculture commodities, and petroleum products etc, hence the capacity augmentation work will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 18.40 MTPA (million tonnes per annum).
Outlining the environmental benefits, it said that the railways, being environment-friendly and energy-efficient mode of transportation, will help in achieving climate goals and minimising logistics cost, reduce oil import (20 crore litres) and lower CO2 emissions (99 crore kg) which is equivalent to plantation of 4 crore trees.
The projects will also generate direct employment for about 74 lakh human-days during construction. These initiatives will improve travel convenience, reduce logistic cost, decrease oil imports and contribute to lower CO2 emissions, supporting sustainable and efficient rail operations, the official said.
"The projects would also enhance logistical efficiency by augmenting line capacity along critical routes for transportation of containers, coal, cement, agricultural commodities, and other goods. These improvements are expected to optimise supply chains, thereby facilitating accelerated economic growth, it added.
Talking about other benefits, the official said that the increased line capacity will significantly enhance mobility, resulting in improved operational efficiency and service reliability for railways. These multi-tracking proposals are poised to streamline operations and alleviate congestion, stated the statement issued by government on Wednesday.
