Poll-bound Bihar gets two major road, railway projects

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approves construction of four-lane Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur high-speed corridor; 177-km Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat railway line section to be doubled

NEW DELHI: Poll-bound Bihar gets over Rs 7,500-crore worth road and railway projects as the Centre on Wednesday approved two major infrastructure works for the eastern State.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the construction of a four-lane Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur high-speed corridor in Bihar, with a total cost of Rs 4,447.38 crore.

The Mokama-Munger section (82.4 km) will be constructed on the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM), Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters. The project would be completed in the next three years.

The section passes through or provides connectivity to important regional cities such as Mokama, Barahiya, Lakhisarai, Jamalpur, Munger, connecting to Bhagalpur.

According to an official statement, the Munger–Jamalpur-Bhagalpur belt in eastern Bihar is emerging as a key industrial region, focusing on ordinance factory, locomotive workshop (in Jamalpur), food processing (e.g., ITC in Munger) and related logistics and warehousing hubs. Bhagalpur stands out as a textile and logistics hub, led by Bhagalpuri silk.

The CCEA also approved the doubling of the 177-km Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat single railway line section in Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal at Rs 3,169 crore.

According to the government, the projects have been envisioned under the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan with a focus on enhancing multi-modal connectivity and logistic efficiency.

"These projects will provide seamless connectivity for the movement of people, goods, and services. The project covering five districts in three States i.e. Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 177 km," it said.

A section of the project also provides rail connectivity to prominent destinations, such as Deoghar (Baba Baidyanath Dham) and Tarapith (Shakti Peeth).

"The capacity augmentation works will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 15 MTPA (million tonnes per annum)," it said.

Assembly elections in Bihar are slated for later this year.

The current Bihar Assembly's term will end on November 22, 2025, and the Election Commission of India is required to complete the election process before that date. The elections are likely to be held before mid-November.