Cabinet allocates over Rs 18,600 crore for India's first underwater twin tube tunnel in Assam ahead of polls

The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved India’s first underwater twin-tube railway project under the Brahmaputra River to connect Gohpur and Numaligarh in Assam, with a total estimated cost of Rs 18,662 crore, ahead of the crucial state Assembly elections.

Currently, the connectivity between Numaligarh on NH715 and Gohpur on NH-15 is 240 km -- from the existing Kaliabhambhora road bridge near Silghat on NH-52, which takes 6 Hours passing through Numaligarh, Kaziranga National Park, and Biswanath Town, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) said in a statement on Saturday.

The project will be developed on an engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) model, MoRTH said.


This will be the first underwater road-cum-rail tunnel in India and the second in the world. The project will provide significant benefit to Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and other northeastern states. It will also enhance the efficiency of freight movement, reduce logistics costs and drive socio-economic growth in the region.

The project provides seamless connectivity to key economic, social, and logistics nodes across Assam. Additionally, the project will enhance multi-modal integration by connecting with 11 economic nodes, 3 social nodes, 2 tourist nodes and 8 logistic nodes, providing enhanced connectivity with 4 major railway stations, 2 airports, and 2 inland waterways, thereby facilitating faster movement of goods and passengers across the region.

Upon completion, the project will play a pivotal role in strategic considerations, regional economic growth, strengthening connectivity between major economic centres and opening new avenues for trade and industrial development.

The project will also generate approximately 80 lakh person-days of direct and indirect employment, and will open new avenues of growth, development and prosperity in surrounding regions.

Project Details

Feature	Details
Project Name	Construction of Twin Tube TBM road Underwater tunnel 2 Lane each under River Brahmaputra along with provision of Railway infrastructure in one of the tubes, in the state of Assam on EPC Mode with total length of project as 33.7 Km.
Corridor	Gohpur on NH-15 – Numaligarh on NH-715
Length (km)	33.7 Km.
Total Civil Cost (Rs Cr.)	11,982.36 Cr.
Land Acquisition Cost (Rs Cr.)	716.65
Total Capital Cost (Rs Cr.)	18,662.02
Mode	Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC).
Project Length	Instant Project of Length 33.77 Km.
Twin Tube TBM Tunnel with Railway in one of the tubes	15.79 Km.
Total Road cut & cover	1.26 Km.
Total Rail cut & cover	4 Km.
Major Roads Connected	National Highways – NH-15 & NH715
Rail Line connected	Rangia-Mukongselek Railway Section under Rangia Division of NFR on Gohpur Side Furkating-Mariani loop line section under Tinsukia Division of NFR on Numaligarh side
Economic / Social / Transport Nodes Connected	Airports (02 ) : Dony Paulo Holongi Airport Itanagar and Tezpur Airport Railway Stations (04) : Numaligarh Railway Station, Gohpur Railway Station, Golaghat Town Railway Station, Simaluguri Junction Inland Water way Terminals (02): Biswanath Ghat Water way terminal, Tezpur Water way terminal Economic Nodes (11) : Numaligarh Industrial Area, Jorhat DIC, IIDC Titabor, Industrial Area Junakinagar, Industrial Estate Nagaon, IIDC Demow, Industrial Estate Sivasagar, IIDC Naltali, Industrial Area Dolabari, Mini Industrial Area Biswanath, MMLP Jogighopa. Social Nodes (03) : 1 Tribal district – Dima Hasao; 02 Aspirations Districts-Udalguri & Darrang Tourist Nodes (02) : Kaziranga National Park & Deopahar Archaeological Site
Major Cities / Towns Connected	Numaligarh, Tezpur, Gohpur Dibrugarh in Assam & Itanagar In Arunachal Pradesh
Employment Generation Potential	80 Lakhs Man-Days of Direct & In-direct
Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) in FY-25	Estimated at 4680 Passenger Car Units (PCU)