Bihar has got Rs 3,171 crore for new and ongoing projects in the Budget 2016-17 that includes a new rail bridge over the Ganga in the State.
“Bihar has got Rs 3,171 crore for new and ongoing projects in this year’s Rail Budget. This is an increase of 29 per cent from Rs 2,489 crore in 2015-16,” East Central Railway (ECR) General Manager AK Mittal told reporters here.
Giving details of the salient features of the rail budget for ECR zone, Mittal said the budget has proposed 18-km-long new rail line of Vikramshila-Kataria which will have a rail bridge over the river Ganga between Pirpainty-Naugachhia, both fall in Bhagalpur district.
The 18-km-long new rail line with a bridge would be built at an estimated cost of Rs 1,601 crore, Mittal said adding that Rs 2 lakh has been allocated for initiating the process, such as preparing estimate etc, in the Railway budget 2016-17.
This would be the third railway bridge over the Ganga after rail-cum-road bridge of Digha-Sonepur and Munger.
Altogether 25 railway over bridges (ROBs) and four sub ways would be built in the ECR as per the budget, GM said.
The budget has earmarked Rs 867 crore for new rail lines, Rs 185 crore doubling of tracks, Rs 150 crore for guage conversion, Rs 50.33 crore for improving passengers’ amenities, he said.