Govt okays 9 rail projects in 11 states worth ₹21K crore

NEW DELHI: Providing a big push to rail infrastructure development, the union cabinet on Wednesday cleared nine projects in 11 states costing ₹20,867.24 crore. The

NEW DELHI: Providing a big push to rail infrastructure development, the union cabinet on Wednesday cleared nine projects in 11 states costing ₹20,867.24 crore. The completion cost of these projects is estimated at ₹24,400 crore.

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“This is for the first time that the government has factored in project escalation cost at the time of sanction, while eight of the projects would be financed through Extra Budgetary Resources”, chairman Railway Board (CRB) A K Mital said.

The cabinet decision is expected to help network expansion and enable the transporter to meet its 2020 targets of transporting 1.5 billion tonnes of freight. The Railways moved 1.1 billion tonnes last year and has set a target of 1.2 billion tonnes for this year.

The Railways has firmed up a ₹1.5 lakh loan agreement with the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to finance infrastructure development and last year it availed a loan of ₹9,000 crore from the insurance company and plans to take another ₹20,000 crore this fiscal.

Projects cleared by the cabinet include the 274-kilometer long third line from Mathura to Jhansi, which is estimated to cost ₹3,677.76 crore.