Union cabinet panel approves Mokama-Munger highway, Bhagalpur railway projects

Patna: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved at least two projects, which will boost road and rail connectivity in the state.These include the construction of four-lane greenfield access-controlled Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur high-speed corridor in the state on Hybrid Annuity Mode, with a total project length of 82.4km and cost of around Rs 4,447 crore.The section passes through important towns such as Mokama, Barahiya, Lakhisarai, Jamalpur and Munger connecting to Bhagalpur, a communique issued by the Union govt said.“The Munger-Jamalpur-Bhagalpur belt in eastern Bihar is emerging as a key industrial region focusing on ordinance factory (existing gun factory and one more proposed as part of an Ordnance Factory Corridor), locomotive workshop (Jamalpur), food processing (like ITC in Munger) and related logistics and warehousing hubs.

Bhagalpur stands out as a textile and logistics hub, led by Bhagalpuri silk. Barahiya is emerging as a region for food packaging, processing and agro-warehousing.

The increased economic activity in the region is expected to drive up the freight movement and the traffic on the Mokama-Munger section in future,” the communique said.It added the corridor with close tolling, supporting average vehicular speeds of 80km/hr with design speed of 100km/hr will reduce the overall travel time to approximately 1.5 hours, while offering safer, faster and uninterrupted connectivity for both passenger and freight vehicles.

“The proposed project will generate about 14.83 lakh man-days of direct employment and 18.46 lakh man-days of indirect employment. The project will also induce additional employment opportunities due to increase in economic activity in the vicinity,” the communique said.The CCEA also approved the doubling of Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat railway line (177km) in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal with a total cost of Rs 3,169 crore.

The project covering five districts in the three states will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 177km.The project will provide rail connectivity to prominent destinations such as Deoghar (Baba Baidyanath Dham) and Tarapith (Shaktipeeth), attracting pilgrims and tourists from across the country.“Multi-tracking project will enhance connectivity to approx 441 villages and about 28.72 lakh population in three aspirational districts — Banka (Bihar), Godda and Dumka (Jharkhand),” a communique issued by the Union govt said.