Government sanctions four railway ministry initiatives valued at ₹18,658 crore.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for four projects from the Ministry of Railways, amounting to a total investment of ₹18,658 crore. These four initiatives, located in 15 districts across Maharashtra, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh, will increase the Indian Railways network by about 1,247 km. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the committee.

“These projects are a result of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity, made possible through integrated planning. They will provide seamless connectivity for the movement of people, goods, and services,” the government said in a press release.

The initiatives include building extra railway tracks to increase capacity and boost connectivity along important corridors. These consist of the 3rd and 4th lines between Jarapda and Sambalpur, the 3rd and 4th lines linking Sason and Jharsuguda, the 5th and 6th lines on the section from Kharsia to Naya Raipur to Parmalkasa, and the doubling of the route from Balharshah to Gondia.

The initiatives also involve building 19 new stations, improving connectivity to two Aspirational Districts—Gadchiroli and Rajnandgaon. The multi-tracking program will enhance accessibility for approximately 3,350 villages and aid nearly 4.72 million individuals.

The Kharsia–Naya Raipur–Parmalkasa route will offer direct access to new regions such as Baloda Bazar, fostering opportunities for setting up industrial facilities, including cement factories, in the area.

The government emphasized the significance of these initiatives for the transportation of essential goods, asserting that they are crucial pathways for the transfer of agricultural goods, fertilizers, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, limestone, and others.

These capacity improvement projects are anticipated to create an extra 88.77 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum) of freight traffic. Additionally, the initiatives will aid climate objectives by decreasing logistics expenses, lowering oil imports by 95 crore litres, and reducing CO2 emissions by 477 crore kg—which is comparable to planting 190 million trees.