Cabinet Approves ₹9,450-Crore Railway Multi-Tracking Projects Across Four States

21 August 2026National

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved four railway multi-tracking projects worth ₹9,450 crore on 19 August 2026, to be completed by 2030-31. The projects cover about 410 route km: the Kharagpur-Bhadrak (Ranital) 4th line (173 km, West Bengal-Odisha); the Bhadrak-Haridaspur 4th line (75 km, Odisha); the Gummidipundi-Gudur 3rd and 4th lines (90 km, Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu); and the Cuttack-Paradeep (Badabandha) 3rd and 4th lines (72 km, Odisha). The multi-tracking works are aimed at decongesting saturated rail corridors, raising line capacity, and improving punctuality and freight movement across West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

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CCEA = Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the PM | East Coast Railway zone (covers Odisha routes) is headquartered in Bhubaneswar | Multi-tracking means adding additional parallel lines to an existing rail route to raise capacity

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