Cabinet approves 309 km long rail connectivity between Indore and Maharashtra's Manmad

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a new railway line project between Indore and Manmad in Nashik. The Ministry of Railways will implement the project at a total cost of approximately Rs. 18,036 crore, the CCEA said in a statement on Monday.

The new line between Indore and Manmad will provide direct connectivity and improve mobility, enhancing efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. The project covers six districts in two states, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, and will extend the existing Indian Railways network by about 309 km.

With this project, 30 new stations will be constructed, enhancing connectivity to the Aspirational District of Barwani. The new line project will provide connectivity to approximately 1,000 villages and a population of about 30 lakh.

The CCEA statement added that the project falls under the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity, which has been made possible through integrated planning. It will provide seamless connectivity for the movement of people, goods, and services.

The project will promote tourism in the region by providing a shorter route between the western and southwestern parts of the country and Central India. This will increase tourist footfall to various tourist and religious sites in the Ujjain-Indore region, including the Sri Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple.

The project will also provide direct connectivity to the Pithampur Auto Cluster, which houses 90 large units and 700 small and medium industries, linking them to the gateway port of JNPA and other state ports. Additionally, it will connect millet-producing districts in Madhya Pradesh and onion-producing districts in Maharashtra, facilitating the distribution of these products to northern and southern parts of the country.

This is a crucial route for the transportation of commodities such as agricultural products, fertilisers, containers, iron ore, steel, cement, and POL (petroleum, oil, and lubricants). The capacity augmentation work will result in additional freight traffic of approximately 26 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).

The railways, being an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient mode of transportation, will contribute to achieving climate goals, reducing the country's logistics costs, lowering oil imports by 18 crore litres, and cutting CO2 emissions by 138 crore kg, which is equivalent to planting 5.5 crore trees.