Centre approves nearly ₹18,658 crore railway projects in Maharashtra, and 2 other states; Check details

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet on Friday, April 4, approved railway projects worth nearly ₹18,658 crore for states like Maharashtra, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh, according to the official press release from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

According to the data, the government aims to launch four projects covering 15 districts across the three states, increasing the Indian Railways network by up to 1,247 kilometres.

“The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved Four projects of Ministry of Railways with total cost of Rs. 18,658 crore (approx.),” said the official statement.

The release also disclosed the details of the project, such as building the third and the fourth line at Sambalpur – Jarapda (in Odisha), the third and the fourth line at Jharsuguda – Sason (in Odisha), the fifth and sixth line at Kharsia – Naya Raipur (in Chattisgarh), and the doubling project in Gondia – Balharshah (in Maharashtra).

“The enhanced line capacity will improve mobility, providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. These multi-tracking proposals will ease operations and reduce congestion, providing the much-required infrastructural development on the busiest sections across Indian Railways,” said the central government in the official release.

Route Significance

According to the central government, the projects are placed in essential routes which are needed for the transportation of commodities like agricultural products, fertilizer, coal, iron ore, steel, cement, and limestone, among other materials.

Indian railways with the new capacity aim to witness additional freight traffic of magnitude 88.77 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum).

Mentioning the environmental impact of the projects the government also said that they aim to reduce the oil import along with controlling carbon emissions as they hope to minimise logistical cost in India.

“The Railways being environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimizing logistics cost of the country, reduce oil import (95 Crore Litres) and lower CO2 emissions (477 Crore Kg) which is equivalent to plantation of 19 Crore trees,” according to the official statement.

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This expansion of the availability of rail rakes for coal transportation in the 2025-26 fiscal comes at a time when India is preparing for a hotter-than-normal summer.