The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved six projects at a cost of Rs 11,661 crore for new lines as well as doubling and electrification of tracks in Uttar Pradesh and three other states, an official statement said.
The projects would cover 881 km of lines in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.
"The CCEA has approved doubling and electrification projects of the 425 km-long Jhansi-Manikpur and Bhimsen-Khairar lines at a completion cost of Rs 4,955.72 crore," the statement said.
The projects are likely to be completed by 2022-23 and will cover the districts of Jhansi, Mahoba, Banda, and Chitrakut Dham in Uttar Pradesh and Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh.
"The CCEA also approved doubling with electrification of the 116.95 km-long Bhatni-Aurnihar line at a cost of Rs 1,300.9 crore which is likely to be completed by 2021-22 and will cover the districts of Deoria, Ballia, Mau and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh," it said.
The government further said that it has also approved the doubling and electrification projects on the 100.6 km-long Muzaffarpur-Sagauli and 109.7 km-long Sagauli-Valmiki Nagar lines at completion costs of Rs 1,347.61 crore and Rs 1,381.49 crore respectively.
These lines are in the districts of Muzaffarpur, East Champaran (Motihari) and West Champaran (Bettiah) in Bihar.
The CCEA has also approved the new 130 km-long Jeypore-Malkangiri line project at a completion cost of Rs 2,676.11 crore.
The first such railway line in Odisha's Maoist-affected Malkangiri is likely to be completed by 2021-22 and will cover the it and Koraput.
According to the Railway Ministry, doubling of railway lines, electrification, development and modernisation of the railways will generate employment of over 211 lakh man days.
