Various Indian railways projects worth Rs 81,941 crore falling partially/fully in the Northeast spanning 1909 km, were underway in the Northeast region, as of April 1 this year, according to the data shared by the Ministry of Development of North-East Region (MDoNER). The Union Minister of Development of North East Region, G Kishan Reddy in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha signified that a network of 482 Km length was already commissioned in the region, and the expenditure of Rs 37,713 crore was incurred by the end of March, this year for the railway project.
Amplified development
According to the reply, in the previous nine years of the Modi government, 1618 km sections (377 km New line, 972 km Gauge conversion, and 269 km doubling) have been commissioned in the North East region at an average rate of 179.78 km/year. This is almost two-and-a-half times the average under the previous government (66.6 km/year).
Road Network
Further talking about connectivity, the minister’s written response stated that 4,950 km of National Highway Network has been developed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways during the last nine years (2014-2023), at the cost of Rs 41,459 crore in the Northeast region of India.
The written response also highlighted the 77 sanctioned road projects amounting to Rs 3372.58 crore, while 51 projects worth Rs 4345.16 crore under various schemes of NEC have been sanctioned under rail, air and road networks in the North Eastern States.
Enhancement of railway connectivity
So far, only three of the Northeastern states have railway connectivity, of which Tripura lies the farthest. While the train network is under construction to reach Mizoram, Tripura serves as an important regional railway station.
Earlier in October, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the extension of the Lokmanya Tilak-Kamakhya Express up to Agartala to boost the connectivity from Tripura to Mumbai. At present, the station is connected with direct trains to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Firozpur, Bhopal, Deoghar and Delhi. The station has 1 Rajdhani, 1 Jan Shatabdi, 8 mail/express trains, 2 AC superfast, 1 passenger train, 5 DEMU trains and 1 Humsafar train.