In a major boost to the ongoing railway projects in Vidarbha, Union Railway Minister and Finance Minister Piyush Goyal has earmarked Rs.1500 crore only for Nagpur division. The much-awaited Nagpur-Chhindwara broad gauge line project has received Rs.125 crore. The project with estimated cost of nearly Rs.1000 crore started four years back. In the last year’s budget, a provision of Rs.780 crore was made for this project. Currently, work on 25-km-long railway line between Bhandharkund and Bhimlagondi is pending. It is expected that this work will be completed soon.
The railway minister has also earmarked Rs.110 crore for the Wardha-Nagpur third line, another major railway project in the region. The government also announced to set up fourth line between the two cities and Rs.1 crore was allotted for the same and Nagpur-Itarasi third line project received an amount of Rs.185 crore. The project was announced last year. The railway ministry also made a provision of Rs.645 crore for laying third line between Nagpur and Rajnandgaon. The project was announced three years back and its work is currently underway. For Wadsa- Gadchiroli railway line, a provision of Rs.29.90 lakh has been made by the government.
The project was aimed to boost growth in the Naxal-hit district of Vidarbha. Similarly, an amount of Rs 8 crore has been earmarked in the budget for development of Ajni railway station. Ajni will be developed into a railway terminal and will be the second major station of Nagpur. Number of platforms will be increased and more trains will be given stoppage here. At present, there are three platforms in Ajni. The railway minister has also provided Rs. 1 crore for Nagpur railway station. This money will be used to remove the curves in platform.
