Cabinet okays rail link to 3 religious places in Gujarat, Rajasthan; project to cost Rs 2,798 crore

New Delhi, July 13: The Cabinet has approved the construction of the 116.65-km Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road rail line at an estimated cost of Rs 2,798.16 crore.

The total length of the new rail line will be 116.65 kms. The project will be completed by 2026-27. The project will generate direct employment during construction for about 40 lakh mandays.

'The estimated cost of this project is Rs 2,798.16 crore and will be completed by 2026-27. The new railway line will connect two states, and three religious places and will reduce the load on the main railway line,'' Union Minister Anurag Thakur said at a press briefing.

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a New India, the project is going to enhance connectivity and improve mobility leading to overall socio economic development of the region.

The proposed rail line will traverse through the Sirohi district of Rajasthan and Sabarkantha, Banaskantha and Mahesana districts of Gujarat. Ambaji is one of the 51 'Shakti Peeths' which attract millions of devotees from Gujarat as well as other parts of the country and abroad every year.

Ambaji is a famous important pilgrimage destination and is one of the 51 Shaktipeeths in India and attracts millions of devotees from Gujarat as well as other parts of the country and abroad every year. The construction of this line will facilitate easy travel for these millions of devotees.

Further, the devotees visiting the Ajitnath Jain temple (one of the 24 holy Jain Tirthankaras) at Taranga Hill would also be greatly benefitted by this connectivity. This railway new line between Taranga Hill-Ambaji- Abu Road will connect these two important religious sports with railway's main network.

This line will facilitate faster movement of agricultural and local products and also provide improved mobility of the people in the region within the state of Gujarat and Rajasthan and also to other parts of the country. This project will also provide alternative route for existing Ahmedabad-Abu Road railway line.

The alignment of the proposed doubling will traverse through Sirohi district of Rajasthan and Banaskantha and Mahesana districts of Gujarat. The construction of new rail line will attract investment and lead to overall socio-economic development of the region.

This line will facilitate faster movement of agricultural and local products and improve mobility of the people between Gujarat and Rajasthan as well as to other parts of the country.

The project will also provide an alternative route to the existing Ahmedabad-Abu Road railway line. The new line shall also benefit the dairy industry of Mehsana and the marble industry of Gujarat.