The Union Cabinet on Friday approved four major multitracking projects for Indian Railways, aiming to significantly enhance line capacity and improve both passenger and freight transportation across key routes. With an estimated total cost of Rs. 18,658 crore, these projects will be completed by 2030-31 and are expected to streamline logistics, reduce costs, and support sustainable rail operations.
Spanning 1,247 kilometers across 15 districts in Maharashtra, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh, the four approved projects are crucial for increasing the efficiency of transportation for essential commodities like coal, iron ore, and other minerals. These improvements will help boost supply chains, contributing to accelerated economic growth in the region. Additionally, the projects will reduce congestion on some of the busiest railway sections in India, providing enhanced mobility and service reliability for Indian Railways.
The four projects include the third and fourth line expansion between Sambalpur and Jarapda, the third and fourth line between Jharsuguda and Sason, the fifth and sixth line between Kharsia, Naya Raipur, and Parmalkasa, and the doubling of the Gondia-Balharshah track. These capacity upgrades are designed to ease operations, meet growing demand, and support Prime Minister Modi’s vision of a “New India,” which focuses on comprehensive development and empowering people through enhanced employment and self-employment opportunities.
These projects are part of the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity. This initiative has been made possible through integrated planning and aims to provide seamless connectivity for the movement of people, goods, and services. The projects will also see the construction of 19 new stations, improving access to important regions, including two aspirational districts—Gadchiroli and Rajnandgaon. This enhanced connectivity will benefit around 3,350 villages and approximately 47.25 million people.
The Kharsia-Naya Raipur-Parmalkasa line will provide direct connectivity to new areas such as Baloda Bazar, opening up possibilities for the establishment of new industrial units, including cement plants. This will further stimulate the local economy and improve regional development.
The capacity expansion will also help meet the growing demand for transporting goods such as agricultural products, fertilizers, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, and limestone. It is expected to result in an additional freight capacity of 88.77 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). As a result, these projects will contribute to achieving climate goals by reducing oil imports by 95 crore liters annually and lowering CO2 emissions by 477 crore kilograms, which is equivalent to the environmental benefit of planting 19 crore trees.
