Cabinet clears Rs 13,041 crore infra push, including 4 railway projects and Bihar highway

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved five major infrastructure projects worth a total of Rs 13041 crore focusing on capacity enhancement of the critical HowrahndashChennai High Density Network HDN railway corridor and a fourlane highway in BiharThe decisions include four multitracking railway projects on the HowrahndashChennai route and the development of the MuzaffarpurndashSitamarhindashSonbarsa fourlane highwayRailway multitracking projectsThe Cabinet approved the following railway projectsKharagpur ndash Bhadrak Ranital 4th Line 173 km Rs 3352 crore Stretching across Paschim Medinipur in West Bengal and Baleswar and Bhadrak in Odisha the project will be completed in four years It includes two mega bridges on the Subarnarekha River 564 m 41 major and 169 minor bridges The line will link steel hubs at Jakhapura Tatanagar and Durgapur with Paradip and Dhamra ports It is expected to handle an additional 13 million tonnes of freight per annum generate 59 lakh humandays of employment save logistics costs of Rs 466 crore annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2086 crore kg every year equivalent to planting about 83 lakh treesBhadrak ndash Haridaspur 4th Line 75 km Rs 1583 croreLocated entirely in Odisha Bhadrak and Jajpur districts the fouryear project will feature two mega bridges on the Baitarani 686 m and Brahmani 1325 m rivers along with 18 major and 106 minor bridges It will serve as a key steel corridor connecting Tata NagarDurgapur and Jakhapura with Dhamra Paradip and the upcoming Subarnarekha Port and facilitate RailSeaRail coal movement Additional freight traffic is projected at 29 million tonnes per annum with logistics savings of Rs 433 crore annually and employment of 26 lakh humandaysGummidipundi ndash Gudur 3rd and 4th Line 90 km Rs 2229 crore Covering Tiruvallur Tamil Nadu and Tirupati Andhra Pradesh the project forms part of both the DelhindashChennai and HowrahndashChennai HDN routes as well as the VizagndashChennai Industrial Corridor It includes one mega bridge on the Swarnamukhi River 360 m 21 major and 127 minor bridges and 34 railway overbridges ROB and road underbridges RUB The section is expected to add 2124 million tonnes of freight traffic annually save Rs 38215 crore in logistics costs generate 61 lakh humandays of employment and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1710 crore kg yearlyCuttack ndash Paradeep Badabandha 3rd and 4th Line 72 km Rs 2286 crore Situated in Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha the fouryear project will create a continuous fourline route between Jharsuguda and Paradeep Port It includes one viaduct eight major bridges 219 minor bridges and 12 ROBRUBs The line will support movement of raw materials for steel plants and coal for railsearail operations adding 12 million tonnes of freight annually saving Rs 17297 crore in logistics costs and generating 49 lakh humandays of employmentThese projects aim to decongest the saturated HowrahndashChennai HDN corridor improve freight movement of coal iron ore steel cement and containers and enhance connectivity to major ports industrial hubs and touristreligious destinationsHighway projectThe Cabinet also approved the development of the 4lane MuzaffarpurndashSitamarhindashSonbarsa Corridor NH22 in Bihar at a cost of Rs 3591 crore under the Hybrid Annuity Mode HAM The 83km brownfield project covering Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi districts will have a construction period of 30 months It includes seven major bridges including a 340m bridge across the Bagmati River three ROBs and six vehicular underpasses The upgraded highway is expected to reduce travel time between Muzaffarpur and Sonbarsa from two hours to one hour decongest the existing road improve access to religious sites such as Baba Garibnath Temple and Punaura Dham and connect multiple PM Gati Shakti economic social and logistics nodes