In a move to enhance infrastructure capacity in election-bound Bihar, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved two major projects: the doubling of a crucial railway line costing ₹3,169 crore and the construction of a four-lane highway section worth ₹4,447 crore.
The approved projects include the doubling of the 177-kilometre Bhagalpur–Dumka-Rampurhat single railway line and the building of an 82-kilometre four-lane Mokama-Munger segment on the Buxar-Bhagalpur high-speed corridor.
According to Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, these initiatives will significantly ease transport challenges in the region.
The newly planned highway will be an access-controlled, four-lane corridor featuring close tolling points. It will support an average vehicular speed of 80 km/h and a design speed of 100 km/h, reducing travel time to approximately 1.5 hours.
This will ensure safer, faster, and uninterrupted connectivity for passenger and freight vehicles alike.
Economic Importance of the Region
The Munger-Jamalpur-Bhagalpur belt in eastern Bihar is emerging as a vital industrial hub.
It hosts ordnance factories—one existing gun factory and another proposed by the Defence Ministry—alongside a locomotive workshop and burgeoning food processing industries, including an ITC facility in Munger.
This region also supports extensive logistics and warehousing infrastructure.
Bhagalpur, known for its world-famous Bhagalpuri silk, is developing as a textile and logistics centre.
Nearby Barahiya is gaining prominence in food packaging, processing, and agro-warehousing.
The Cabinet noted that increasing economic activity in these areas is expected to boost freight traffic and vehicle movement on the Mokama-Munger corridor.
Project Implementation and Benefits
The highway project will be implemented under a hybrid annuity model, where the government provides 40% of the project cost upfront to the developer, with the remainder paid through annuities.
The doubling of the railway line aims to improve mobility, efficiency, and reliability for Indian Railways, alleviating congestion on this busy route.
Covering five districts across Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, the railway expansion will add around 177 km to the network.
It will enhance connectivity to major pilgrimage and tourist destinations such as Deoghar (Baba Baidyanath Dham) and Tarapith (Shakti Peeth), attracting visitors nationwide.
The project will benefit nearly 441 villages and a population of approximately 287,200. It also serves as a crucial corridor for transporting commodities like coal, cement, fertilisers, bricks, and stones.
The capacity augmentation will increase freight traffic by 15 million tonnes per annum.
Furthermore, Minister Vaishnaw said doubling the heavily saturated Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat line will greatly improve passenger and freight transport.
Enhanced rail connectivity will also better serve key tourist sites such as Deoghar and Tarapith, contributing to the region’s economic and social development.
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