Cabinet approves two multi-tracking railway projects

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two multitracking projects covering seven Districts in Jharkhand, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh increasing the existing Indian Railways network by about 318 Kms.

An official statement said these projects are expected to cost around Rs 6,405 crore.

Announcing these decisions, Union Railways, Information Broadcasting, and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said investments in transportation lowered the country's logistics cost by about 4%. “Every percentage point reduction in logistics cost means that there will be much more competitive industries,” he said while adding the Rs 4.5 lakh crore of investments have been approved for transport sector in the last one year.


The 133 Kms Koderma – Barkakana Doubling project section passes through a major coal producing area of Jharkhand. It also serves as the shortest rail link between Patna and Ranchi. The 185 kms Ballari – Chikjajur Doubling traverses through Ballari and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka and Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.

These are essential routes for transporting coal, iron ore, finished steel, cement, fertilizers, agriculture commodities, and Petroleum products. The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 49 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum).