Cabinet Clears Railway Multitracking Projects in Maharashtra, Gujarat

28 Nov 2025 CW Team

The capacity expansion will significantly enhance mobility, operational efficiency and service reliability across the network. The initiatives are aligned with the Prime Minister’s vision of building a more connected, self-reliant and economically vibrant New India by increasing employment and self-employment opportunities in the region.

Planned under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, the projects aim to improve multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder coordination. Together, they span four districts across Maharashtra and Gujarat and will expand the rail network by about 224 km.

The multitracking works will enhance connectivity for nearly 585 villages with a combined population of around 3.2 million. The Kanalus–Okha doubling project will strengthen access to the Dwarkadhish Temple and promote regional development across Saurashtra. The Badlapur–Karjat stretch, part of the Mumbai suburban corridor, will improve suburban mobility, address rising commuter demand and facilitate smoother connectivity to southern India.

Both routes are critical freight corridors for commodities such as coal, salt, containers, cement and petroleum products. The capacity augmentation is expected to support an additional 18 MTPA of freight traffic. As an energy-efficient mode of transport, the improved railway capacity will also contribute to India’s climate goals by reducing logistics costs, lowering oil imports by an estimated 30 million litres and cutting CO? emissions by 160 million kg—equivalent to planting 64 lakh trees.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved two multi-tracking projects of the Ministry of Railways at an estimated cost of Rs 27.81 billion. The projects include the 141-km doubling of the Devbhumi Dwarka (Okha)–Kanalus section and the construction of the 3rd and 4th lines on the 32-km Badlapur–Karjat section.The capacity expansion will significantly enhance mobility, operational efficiency and service reliability across the network. The initiatives are aligned with the Prime Minister’s vision of building a more connected, self-reliant and economically vibrant New India by increasing employment and self-employment opportunities in the region.Planned under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, the projects aim to improve multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder coordination. Together, they span four districts across Maharashtra and Gujarat and will expand the rail network by about 224 km.The multitracking works will enhance connectivity for nearly 585 villages with a combined population of around 3.2 million. The Kanalus–Okha doubling project will strengthen access to the Dwarkadhish Temple and promote regional development across Saurashtra. The Badlapur–Karjat stretch, part of the Mumbai suburban corridor, will improve suburban mobility, address rising commuter demand and facilitate smoother connectivity to southern India.Both routes are critical freight corridors for commodities such as coal, salt, containers, cement and petroleum products. The capacity augmentation is expected to support an additional 18 MTPA of freight traffic. As an energy-efficient mode of transport, the improved railway capacity will also contribute to India’s climate goals by reducing logistics costs, lowering oil imports by an estimated 30 million litres and cutting CO? emissions by 160 million kg—equivalent to planting 64 lakh trees.

Real Estate

05 Dec 2025

RBI Rate Cut Boosts Confidence Across Housing Market

Industry Context and Market DynamicsThe real estate industry has welcomed the RBI’s rate cut as a timely boost to affordability and demand. With home prices having risen steadily across major markets, even a marginal reduction in interest rates meaningfully strengthens purchasing power, especially for first-time and mid-income buyers.Ashish Jerath, President – Sales & Marketing, Smartworld Developers, observes:“The RBI’s 25-basis-point cut, bringing the repo rate down to 5.25%, is a timely boost for the real estate sector. Lower interest rates reduce borrowing costs, enabling homeb..

Infrastructure Transport

05 Dec 2025

BMC Resumes Rs 170 Billion Road Works, Targets 80 per cent By Jan 2026

Following the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon in October, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has restarted work on 645 roads—covering 297.49 kilometres—under its large-scale concretisation programme. Data shows that more than 60 per cent of the resumed works are located in the western suburbs. Officials said the civic body aims to complete concretisation on 80 per cent of the roads where fresh work has begun by January 2026. Launched in 2022, the Rs 170 billion project seeks to concretise 700 kilometres of roads across Mumbai. All civil works were halted during the monsoon ..

Infrastructure Urban

05 Dec 2025

India Pushes Digital Shift In Urban Land Mapping

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development has convened a National Symposium on NAKSHA – the National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations – to advance India’s transition to modern, technology-driven land mapping. Speaking at the inaugural session, Secretary Manoj Joshi underscored the urgent need to move revenue departments away from outdated, tape-based methods and rough hand-drawn sketches. He stressed that adopting latitude–longitude-based digital mapping and GIS-linked registration systems is essential for economic stabi..