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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the construction of a 4-lane greenfield access-controlled Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur High-Speed Corridor in Bihar.
The project will be built under Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) with a total project length of 82.400 km and a total capital cost of Rs 4447.38 crore. The section passes through or provides connectivity to important regional cities such as Mokama, Barahiya, Lakhisarai, Jamalpur, Munger connecting to Bhagalpur. The Munger-Jamalpur-Bhagalpur belt in Eastern Bihar is emerging as a key industrial region focusing on ordinance factory (Existing gun factory and 1 more proposed as part of Ordnance Factory Corridor by M/o Defence), locomotive workshop (in Jamalpur), food processing (e.g., ITC in Munger) and related logistics and warehousing hubs. Bhagalpur stands out as a textile and logistics hub, led by Bhagalpuri silk (details of proposed textile ecosystem in Bhagalpur. 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 the future. The 4-lane access-controlled corridor with close tolling, supporting average vehicular speeds of 80 km/h with design speed of 100 km/h 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 with 82.40 km will generate about 14.83 lakh man-days of direct employment and 18.46 lakh man-days of indirect employment, as per government estimates. "The project will also induce additional employment opportunities due to increase in economic activity in the vicinity of the proposed corridor," the government said. Separately, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved the doubling of Bhagalpur - Dumka - Rampurhat single railway line Section (177 km) in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal with total cost of Rs.3,169 crore (approx.). The enhanced line capacity will improve mobility, providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. "The multi-tracking proposal will ease operations and reduce congestion, providing the much-required infrastructural development on the busiest sections across Indian Railways. The projects are in line with the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji's vision of a New India which will make people of the region "Atmanirbhar" by way of comprehensive development in the area which will enhance their employment/ self-employment opportunities," the government said. (ANI)
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