NEW DELHI, Dec 27
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave a boost to infrastructure projects in Bihar and the North-East, approving road and bridge projects worth over Rs.5,500 crore.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a 4.56 km-long six-lane bridge over the Ganga connecting Digha and Sonepur in Bihar at a cost of Rs.3,064.45 crore. Announcing the decision, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said the new bridge would connect north and south Bihar, and would allow transport by heavy vehicles. Digha, in Patna district, and Sonepur, in Saran district, are currently connected by a rail-cum-road bridge that can be used by light vehicles only.
“Therefore, the present road cannot be used for transport of goods and commodities which is a major economic blockade. The constraint will be removed by providing this bridge, between Digha and Sonepur; and goods and commodities can be transported once the bridge is constructed, unleashing the economic potential of the region,” a CCEA statement said.
The bridge would also improve connectivity for sites of Buddhist pilgrimage like Vaishali. The project is estimated to take 42 months to complete.
The CCEA also approved a Rs.2,486.78 crore project of improvement and widening of 135-km stretch of the national highway from Khowai to Harina in Tripura.
Thakur said the project would reduce the distance by 28km and the time taken by half. He said the project would improve connectivity between different parts of the state as well as between Tripura and Assam.
The project includes a loan of Rs.1,511.70 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project is expected to take two years to be completed.
“The project has been selected based on the necessity of providing smooth and motorable road after considering socio economic needs of the region…The project stretch also passes very close to Bangladesh border and it would improve connectivity to Bangladesh through Kailashahar, Kamalpur and Khowai Border Check Post. The land border trade would also potentially grow with the improvement in road network in the region through development of the project road,” a CCEA statement said.
The CCEA also approved the minimum support price (MSP) for copra for 2024. The MSP for milling copra was increase by Rs.300 per quintal to Rs.11,160 per quintal and for ball copra by Rs.250 per quintal to Rs.12,000 per quintal. Thakur said the MSPs had more than doubled since 2014-2015, when the MSP for milling copra was Rs.5,250 per quintal and ball copra was Rs.5,500 per quintal.
He said there had been “record procurement” this season, with more than 1.33 lakh metric tonnes of copra procured at Rs.1,493 crore in total.
