Assam’s Palashbari-Chandubi highway close to completion

22 Sep 2022 CW Team

The first construction project under the Assam Mala scheme, the Palashbari-Chandubi two-lane highway, will be completed within a week, according to Kartik Biswas, the executive engineer of South Kamrup Territorial Road Division. “The construction will be completed six months ahead of the stipulated time,” he said.

The highway will connect South Kamrup to the Assam-Meghalaya border in West Guwahati. It will cut the travel time from Mirza to Chandubi (32 km) from one and a half hours to 40 minutes. The new highway has been built alongside the river Brahmaputra and stretches from Palashbari to Chandubi.

The two-lane highway passes by Mirza, Barihat, Loharghat, Borduar and Muduki. It was planned to be 26 km long, but after protests against two-laning the highway on this particular stretch, Assam Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma called off the construction of a 6-km stretch which has the Borduar Reserve Forest to its north and Mayang Hill Reserve Forest to its south.

The protests had erupted back in August after around 2,000 trees which are 100-150 years old were earmarked to be felled for the purpose. The highway has now been expanded to a two-lane only until Muduki. The 6-km stretch beyond Muduki has been kept single-lane and construction has been halted.

However, even while constructing the existing stretch, thousands of century-old high value trees were felled. Many high-value trees have been planted again by the officials and villagers, even if their survival rates are fairly low.

Infrastructure Transport

13 Oct 2025

Tata, Airbus to Build India’s First Private Helicopter Line

In a landmark development for India’s aerospace sector, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus will establish the country’s first private-sector helicopter assembly line in Vemagal, Karnataka. The facility will manufacture the Airbus H125 and H125M, marking a significant milestone in India’s push for self-reliance in aviation and defence manufacturing. The new Final Assembly Line (FAL) will produce the H125, the world’s best-selling single-engine helicopter, known for its versatility and performance in extreme environments. The first ‘Made in India’ H125 is expected to ro..

NeGD to Support Bharat Taxi in Building Cooperative Ride Platform

In a significant move for India’s digital and mobility transformation, the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) of the Digital India Corporation, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has entered into an advisory partnership with Sahakar Taxi Cooperative Limited, the company behind Bharat Taxi — a first-of-its-kind, cooperative-led national ride-hailing platform. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between NeGD and Sahakar Taxi to provide strategic advisory and technical support covering key areas such as platform integration, cybersecurity..

MeitY Hosts Pre-Summit for India–AI Impact Summit 2026

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, hosted a series of Pre-Summit events for the upcoming India–AI Impact Summit 2026 at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025 in New Delhi. These sessions mark a key milestone ahead of the main summit, scheduled for 19–20 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Delivering the inaugural address, S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, highlighted India’s innovative and frugal approach to AI development. “We have adopted innovative means by learning from others’ experiences to build projects and products that..