Govt Sanctions Rs 7K Cr for Highway and Rail Expansion
The Union Cabinet has approved three major infrastructure projects aimed at improving freight connectivity and reducing congestion in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
The initiatives are expected to significantly shorten travel time and enhance the movement of goods across industrial corridors. The most substantial among them is the 108-kilometre four-lane Badvel-Nellore highway in Andhra Pradesh, sanctioned at a cost of ₹3,653 crore. This corridor on National Highway 67 (NH-67) will link Gopavaram in Kadapa district to Krishnapatnam Port in Nellore district via NH-16. It will also provide strategic connectivity to industrial nodes on the Chennai-Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam-Chennai, and Hyderabad-Bengaluru corridors. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the highway would cut the travel distance by 33.9 km, reducing the journey time from 2.5 hours to 1.5 hours. “It will also ease congestion on NH-67 and NH-16,” he noted in a post on X.
In Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the Cabinet cleared two multitrack railway expansion projects aimed at facilitating faster movement of key commodities including coal, cement, agricultural produce, and petroleum products. The 135-kilometre Wardha-Ballarshah line will be four-tracked at a cost of ₹2,381 crore. This section is part of the crucial Delhi-Chennai freight corridor and is expected to be completed by 2029–30. Similarly, the 41-km Ratlam-Nagda railway line will see the construction of a third and fourth track at ₹1,018 crore. Ratlam is a vital junction with routes connecting Vadodara, Indore, Nagda, and Chittorgarh. The Ministry of Railways estimates that the capacity upgrades will support an additional 18.4 million tonnes of freight annually, with the two railway projects adding approximately 176 km to the national railway network.
The Cabinet’s decision is seen as a pivotal move to boost economic activity, enhance regional industrial integration, and streamline logistics across India’s major economic corridors.
