Archive · 20 Aug 2026
Cabinet Approves Rs 13,041 Crore Railway, Highway Projects
India’s government approved five large projects to improve trains and roads.
Together, they will cost about Rs 13,041 crore.
Four projects will add more railway tracks in West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Another project will widen part of a highway in Bihar to four lanes.
More tracks will help trains carry coal, steel, cement and other goods.
The railway work is expected to allow 76 million extra tonnes of freight each year.
The projects will also connect many villages, tourist places and industrial areas.
The Bihar highway project is expected to make travel easier toward the India-Nepal border.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved five railway and highway projects worth Rs 13,041 crore.
Four railway multi-tracking projects totaling about 410 km will be built across five states.
The railway projects, costing around Rs 9,450 crore, are expected to add 76 million tonnes of annual freight capacity.
An 82-km section of Bihar’s NH-22 will be upgraded to four lanes at a capital cost of Rs 3,590.73 crore.
The projects aim to improve village, industrial, tourist, border and freight connectivity along the Howrah-Chennai corridor.
- Who
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the projects.
- What
- It approved four railway multi-tracking projects and the four-laning of an 82-km section of NH-22, together worth Rs 13,041 crore.
- When
- The approval was given on Wednesday.
- Where
- The projects cover West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, including the Howrah-Chennai high-density railway network.
- Why
- The projects are intended to increase transport capacity, improve connectivity, reduce road congestion and support freight, passenger, industrial, tourist and cross-border movement.
- Total approved cost
- Rs 13,041 crore
- Number of projects
- Five: four railway projects and one highway project
- Railway expansion
- About 410 km of additional multi-tracking
- Estimated railway cost
- Around Rs 9,450 crore
- Expected freight capacity
- 76 million tonnes per annum
- Highway project
- 82-km Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi-Sonbarsa section of NH-22, upgraded to four lanes
- Highway funding model
- Hybrid Annuity Mode, with 40% of the project cost paid upfront to the developer and the remainder paid through annuities with interest