The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved four major railway multitracking projects worth approximately Rs 11,169 crore. These projects aim to enhance operational capacity and efficiency across key railway routes, adding around 574 kilometers to the Indian Railways network and covering 13 districts in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand.

The approved projects include:

Itarsi – Nagpur (4th Line)

Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) – Parbhani (Doubling)

Aluabari Road – New Jalpaiguri (3rd and 4th Line)

Dangoaposi – Jaroli (3rd and 4th Line)

These multitracking initiatives are expected to significantly improve mobility, reduce congestion, and enhance service reliability for both passenger and freight trains. The projects align with the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan, focusing on multi-modal connectivity and integrated logistics development through stakeholder consultations and coordinated planning.

Designed to support the movement of key commodities such as coal, cement, clinker, gypsum, fly ash, containers, agricultural goods, and petroleum products, these routes are critical for freight movement. The capacity upgrades are projected to generate an additional 95.91 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of freight traffic.

Once implemented, the projects will improve connectivity for approximately 2,309 villages with a combined population of about 43.6 lakh. The enhanced infrastructure is expected to boost employment and self-employment opportunities, supporting the government’s vision of a self-reliant (Atmanirbhar) India through inclusive regional development.

In addition to improving logistics efficiency and lowering costs, these projects will contribute to environmental sustainability by reducing oil imports by 16 crore litres and cutting CO2 emissions by 515 crore kg—equivalent to planting 20 crore trees.