Centre clears Mokama–Munger 4-lane corridor, Bhagalpur–Dumka rail doubling with ₹7,600 crore outlay

The government has approved infrastructure projects worth over ₹7,600 crore, including the construction of the 82.4 km Mokama–Munger section of the Buxar–Bhagalpur High-Speed Corridor in Bihar and the doubling of the 177 km Bhagalpur–Dumka–Rampurhat railway line across Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The government on Wednesday approved infrastructure projects worth over ₹7,600 crore, including the construction of a 4-lane greenfield Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur High-Speed Corridor in Bihar and doubling of the Bhagalpur–Dumka–Rampurhat railway line across Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cleared the Mokama-Munger stretch on Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) with a project length of 82.4 km at a cost of ₹4,447.38 crore. The corridor will connect Mokama, Barahiya, Lakhisarai, Jamalpur and Munger, linking to Bhagalpur. The region, home to industrial hubs like the Jamalpur locomotive workshop, Munger’s food processing units, and Bhagalpur’s textile industry, is expected to benefit from faster and safer freight and passenger movement. Designed for speeds up to 100 kmph, the project will reduce travel time on the section to about 1.5 hours and generate nearly 33 lakh man-days of direct and indirect employment, the statement said. The Cabinet also approved doubling of the 177-km Bhagalpur–Dumka–Rampurhat railway line at an estimated cost of ₹3,169 crore. Spread across five districts in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, the project aims to decongest one of the busiest railway sections, improve service reliability, and boost freight capacity by 15 million tonnes per annum. It is an essential route for the transportation of commodities such as coal, cement, fertilisers, bricks and stones. "Once completed, this corridor will significantly improve connectivity, allowing more trains to run between Bhagalpur, Dumka, Malda Town, and Rampurhat. Passenger, mail, and express services will all benefit from this expansion," Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told a Cabinet briefing. The multi-tracking project, in line with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, will benefit around 28.7 lakh people across 441 villages, including three aspirational districts of Banka, Godda and Dumka. It will also improve connectivity to religious destinations like Deoghar and Tarapith, attracting pilgrims and tourists. Railways said the project will reduce oil imports by an estimated five crore litres and cut CO2 emissions equivalent to planting one crore trees.