The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the 177-kilometre-long doubling of the Bhagalpur – Dumka – Rampurhat single railway line Section in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal with a total cost of approximately 3,169 crore rupees.
The Cabinet has also approved the Construction of a 4-lane greenfield access-controlled Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur High-Speed Corridor, Bihar on Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) with a total project length of over 82 kilometres and a Total Capital Cost of over 4,447 crore rupees.
Briefing media in New Delhi today about the Cabinet Committee’s decision taken under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, the enhanced line capacity will improve mobility, providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. He added that the multi-tracking proposal will ease operations and reduce congestion, providing the much-needed infrastructural development on the busiest sections across Indian Railways. Mr. Vaishnaw mentioned that the projects are in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a New India, which will make people of the region Atmanirbhar by way of comprehensive development in the area, which will enhance their employment/ self-employment opportunities.
Highlighting the Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur High-Speed Corridor in Bihar, Mr. Vaishnaw said that the section passes through or provides connectivity to important regional cities such as Mokama, Barahiya, Lakhisarai, Jamalpur, Munger, and connects to Bhagalpur. He said that the proposed project with 82.40 kilometres will generate about 14.83 lakh man-days of direct employment and 18.46 lakh man-days of indirect employment. The Minister said that the project will also induce additional employment opportunities due to an increase in economic activity in the vicinity of the proposed corridor.
The Munger-Jamalpur-Bhagalpur belt in Eastern Bihar is emerging as a key industrial region focusing on ordnance factories, locomotive workshops, food processing and related logistics, and warehousing hubs.