Railways To Invest Over Rs 95,261 Crore To Connect State Capitals Of Northeast

Guwahati: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is set to invest over Rs 95,261 crore to implement 21 projects including connecting the state capitals of three northeastern states -- Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya by 2023, and Nagaland capital Kohima by 2026. 

It is to be noted that Assam's main city of Guwahati (adjoining capital Dispur), Tripura capital Agartala, and Arunachal Pradesh's Naharlagun (adjacent to capital city Itanagar) are already connected with the railway network.

NFR's Chief Public Relations Officer Sabyasachi De on June 3 said that funds to the tune of Rs 51,787 crore have already been allocated to connect the remaining state capitals and also to increase the line capacity in the region.

The average fund allocation per year for the northeastern region in the last eight years happens to be 254 per cent more than the yearly average fund allocation in 2009-14.

NFR's Chief Public Relations Officer told the media that the work for laying new broad gauge railway tracks has begun to connect Imphal and Aizawl and the work of laying new lines to connect Shillong will not face many obstacles due to the absence of big mountains between Guwahati and Shillong.

He went on to say that the government has invested all its efforts to improve rail connectivity in the northeast.

"The northeastern region of the country has received a significant infrastructure boost in the railway sector in the last eight years (2014-2022). Between 2014 and 2022, a total of 893.82 km of track have been converted to broad gauge, 386.84 km new lines added, 356.41 km double lines commissioned and a survey of 1,578 km new lines were completed," he added.

The CPRO informed that an investment of Rs 95,261.65 crore is expected in the region so as to complete 21 projects, which include linking the remaining state capitals of the region.

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