CCEA Approves Four Railway Multitracking Projects Worth ₹9,450 Crore Across West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved four railway multi-tracking projects with a combined investment of approximately ₹9,450 crore. The projects will add around 410 km to the Indian Railways network across West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, with completion targeted by 2030-31.
The approved projects are: a fourth line between Kharagpur (West Bengal) and Bhadrak/Ranital (Odisha) covering 173 km at an estimated cost of ₹3,352 crore, including construction of two mega bridges, 41 major bridges and 169 minor bridges; a fourth line between Bhadrak and Haridaspur in Odisha covering 75 km; third and fourth lines between Gummidipundi (Andhra Pradesh) and Gudur (Tamil Nadu) covering 90 km; and third and fourth lines between Cuttack and Paradeep/Badabandha in Odisha covering 72 km.
The four projects span eight districts and are expected to improve connectivity for around 6,448 villages inhabited by approximately six million people. The proposed routes are key corridors for transportation of commodities including coal, iron ore, cement, iron and steel, containers, automobiles and food grains, and the capacity augmentation is expected to enable additional freight traffic of around 76 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
The Railway Ministry said the increased line capacity will enhance mobility, improve operational efficiency and service reliability, and help ease congestion through streamlined operations. The projects are estimated to help reduce oil consumption by around 13 crore litres and cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 65 crore kg, equivalent to the environmental benefit of planting around 2.60 crore trees.