Ongoing new line construction projects in South East Central Railway may have received a push, thanks to good allocations made for Indian Railways for the coming FY.
The Dalli Rajhara – Jagdalpur new line project has received an allocation of Rs. 500 crores, entirely under the Deposit head, suggesting non-Railway funds are to be utilised for the project in FY20.
The Wadsa – Gadchiroli line in Maharashtra has also received a good share of the total sanctioned project cost, with Railways allocating Rs. 29.9 crores from its own capex funds and allocating another Rs. 50 crores under the Deposit head, which likely comes from the Maharashtra Govt.
Besides these, the Dongargarh – Kharigarh – Bilaspur new line has received Rs. 100 crore allocations from external sources. So has the Dharamjaigarh – Korba new line project, with an allocation of Rs. 200 crores for the 63 km route.
Gauge Conversion
The currently in-progress gauge conversion work of the Satpura Narrow Gauge network running between Nagpur, Jabalpur, Balaghat, Mandla Fort and Chhindwara has also received a substantial allocation of about Rs. 400 crores, aimed at completion of work and commissioning of most of the line in 2019.
Doubling/Tripling
Significant budgetary allocations have been made for capacity enhancement works, with tripling work on dense freight traffic sections of Rajnandgaon – Nagpur, Pendhra Road – Annuppur, Annuppur – Katni receiving a massive Rs. 575 crores.
4th line work between Bilaspur – Jharsuguda, another high freight traffic section has also received Rs. 200 crores for FY20.
