Cabinet approves 8 big railway projects as "equivalent to planting 30 cr trees"

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday approved eight new big railway projects that will cover aspirational and tribal districts. While briefing the Cabinet decisions on Friday, Minister of Railways and Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the new eight railway projects are expected to cut down around 767 crore kilograms of carbon dioxide which in simple terms are equivalent to planting 30 crore trees.

"As we know railways are the most environment-friendly transportation mode. The eight projects are worth Rs 24657 crore. 143 million tons of cargo will come under rail mode with the completion of these projects. 767 crore kgs of carbon dioxide emissions will be cut down. So eight projects are equivalent to planting 30 crore trees," Vaishnaw said while addressing a press conference.

Three out of the eight projects will cover Odisha's southern and western portions. The projects are Gunupur-Therubali new line (73 kms), Junagarh-Nabarangpur new line (116 kms) and Malkangiri-Pandurangapuram via Bhadrachalam new line (173 kms).

Minister Vaishnaw said that this will ensure connectivity between Western Odisha, Southern Odisha, Andhra and Telangana. This has economic importance, tourism importance, employment, and also from the perspective of mineral and energy security, he said.

Three projects will ensure East Coast port connectivity and will cover Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. These projects are expected to generate employment before and after their completion.

Northern Odisha will get three that will ensure complete northeast corridor connectivity. Also, they are expected to bring economic development for the tribal population, Vaishnaw said.

The seventh project is between Jharkhand and Bihar and it will be a rail bridge over River Ganga. Bikramshila- Katareah new line will be 26 kms and will be a double line bridge built for Rs 2459 crore investment.

Minister Vaishnaw said that the eighth project is for Maharashtra that will connect Maratwada to Uttar Maharashtra which will be called Jalgaon - Jalna new line that is 174 kms and has a completion cost of Rs 7100 crore.

This transportation corridor will also ensure connectivity to world heritage sites - Ajanta and Ellora caves and will be called Ajanta Caves Rail Connectivity from Jalgaon to Jalna.