CCEA gives nod to 9 rail projects worth Rs.24,000 cr

The Dollar Business Bureau

In a major push to boost the Indian infrastructure sector, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved nine projects worth Rs.24,374.86 crore for the expansion of railway network and connectivity in nine states of the country.

In order to achieve a capacity to transport goods worth 1.5 billion tonnes per annum through rail network by 2020, the CCEA has given final nod to the nine projects at an estimated cost of Rs 24,374.86 crore. These projects will be completely financed from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

The projects are located on the North-South and East-West corridors of the Golden Quadrilateral. The railway network here is almost choked, while the operational capacity has increased more than 20% in these regions. The Delhi-Chennai and Howrah-Mumbai two corridors are impacting all the nine states.

According to Railway Board chairman A K Mital, the railway network is equipped to transport around 1.2 billion tonnes at present, while It has carried about 1.1 million tonnes in the previous year. This approval is towards working in the direction to carry 1.5 billion tonnes by the year 2020.

The approved projects will be completed in the next four-five years. There is no need for fresh land acquisition as these are third lines. There is no chance of any delay even. Moreover, the funding is also assured by the LIC, he further said.

Few Dedicated Freight Corridors are also proposed along these routes. Indian Railways is still at planning stage. It may take roughly around a decade to start. But the Railway Board should create the required capacity much earlier to that, Mital added.

The approved projects would help the upcoming industries in the region in meeting their transport capacity requirements. They will facilitate the travel by easing the bottlenecks of rail traffic. The goods trains, industries, mines and power plants will have extra transport capacity which will result in additional revenues to the Railways.