At a hurriedly convened meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the Government today gave its approval in principle for investment of Rs 2,497.43 crore in seven railway projects which will involve laying 1,134 km of new tracks— five broad gauge rail connections and conversion of two narrow tracks to broad gauge. It surprised none that Railway Minister Nitish Kumar decided a substantial part of these investments would cover Bihar, his home state. Other beneficiaries are Haryana, ruled by Om Prakash Chautala of INLD, and Orissa under BJD rule. Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Assam too stand to gain. Sources said that the Finance Minister had voiced his reservations but was overruled. The new lines cleared today include: • Talcher to Bimlagarh in Orissa • Kiccha to Khatima via Sitarganj and Nanamata in Bihar • Rewari to Rohtak via Jhajjar in Haryana • Maharajganj to Masrakh in eastern UP • Sonepat to Jind in Haryana Two projects for conversion from narrow gauge to broad gauge will be carried out in Bihar (Sakri-Laukahabazar-Nirmali via Saharsa, Forbesganj) and Assam (Rangia-Mukongselek track) for which almost Rs 1,000 crore has been set aside. The CCEA meeting today was unusual on two counts: the proposals were circulated only late last night and no official announcement of the projects was made after the meeting. It’s not clear whether these decisions would be announced by the Rly Minister over the weekend or be part of a Republic Day bonanza ahead of the vote-on-account next week.
