Delhi/Indore. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the New Railway Line Project under the Ministry of Railways at a total cost of Rs. 18,036 crore (approx). The proposed new line between Indore and Manmad will provide direct connectivity and improve mobility, thereby ensuring better efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. The project is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a New India, which will make people self-reliant through comprehensive development in the region, thereby increasing employment/self-employment opportunities for them.
The project is an outcome of the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan for Multi-Modal Connectivity, made possible through integrated planning and will provide seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services.
The project will cover 6 districts in 2 states, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, adding about 309 km to the existing network of Indian Railways.
30 new stations will be built with this project, which will provide better connectivity to the aspiring district Barwani. The new railway line project will provide connectivity to about 1,000 villages and about 30 lakh population.
The project will boost tourism in the region by providing a shorter route connecting the western/south-western part of the country to central India. This will increase the number of tourists visiting various tourist/religious places in the Ujjain-Indore region including Shri Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple.
The project will provide direct connectivity to the Pithampur auto cluster (90 large units and 700 small and medium industries) to JNPA’s gateway port and other state ports. The project will also provide direct connectivity to the millet producing districts of Madhya Pradesh and onion producing districts of Maharashtra, facilitating its distribution in the northern and southern parts of the country.
It is an essential route for transportation of commodities like agricultural products, fertilizers, containers, iron ore, steel, cement, POL etc. The capacity enhancement work will result in additional freight traffic of about 26 MTPA (million tonnes per annum). Railways are an environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transport, which will help in achieving climate goals and reducing the country’s logistics cost, reducing oil imports (18 crore litres) and reducing carbon dioxide emissions (138 crore kg) which is equivalent to planting 5.5 crore trees.