Bihar Elections 2025: Cabinet Unveils Rail and Road Bonanza
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday at MS Swaminathan memorial event! (Image X.com)
From doubling the Bhagalpur–Dumka–Rampurhat railway line to building the Mokama–Munger high-speed corridor, Modi government bets big on Bihar, Jharkhand, and Bengal to spur freight, tourism, and employment.
By AMIT KUMAR
NEW DELHI, September 10, 2025 — The Modi government has unleashed a fresh round of infrastructure bets in Bihar, approving projects worth over ₹7,600 crore that could reshape connectivity and unlock new economic corridors in the poll-bound state.
The Cabinet decisions on Wednesday came ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to Purnea in Bihar where he will inaugurate a newly-built airport, which will largely function under the Udan scheme.
At the heart of the announcement lies the Cabinet’s nod to double the Bhagalpur–Dumka–Rampurhat single railway line (177 km), spread across Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, at an estimated cost of ₹3,169 crore. The upgrade promises smoother freight movement of coal, cement, fertilizers, and agro-products while easing congestion on one of the busiest rail sections.
Officials estimate it could handle an additional 15 million tonnes of freight annually, saving 5 crore litres of fuel and cutting 24 crore kg of CO₂ emissions — a green dividend equal to planting one crore trees.
The project is more than steel and tracks. It is designed to touch 441 villages, improve connectivity for nearly 29 lakh people, and bring rail access to pilgrimage hotspots like Deoghar’s Baidyanath Dham and Tarapith’s Shakti Peeth. Crucially, three aspirational districts — Banka, Godda, and Dumka — stand to gain from the employment and logistics boost.
In parallel, the Cabinet cleared the Mokama–Munger section of the Buxar–Bhagalpur high-speed corridor in Bihar, a ₹4,447 crore four-lane greenfield expressway under the Hybrid Annuity Mode. The 82.4 km access-controlled stretch will slash travel time to 1.5 hours and serve as the backbone of an emerging industrial belt, home to the Jamalpur locomotive workshop, Munger’s food processing clusters, and Bhagalpur’s famed silk industry.
“Together, the projects are expected to generate more than 33 lakh man-days of direct and indirect employment, apart from catalyzing logistics, warehousing, and agro-processing hubs,” said a senior official.
For the Modi government, these approvals fold neatly into the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, tying infrastructure upgrades to economic transformation. Yet, the question remains: will these mega-projects translate into long-term prosperity for Bihar, or will they be another case of shiny announcements outpacing ground realities? But the Cabinet decisions may provide ammunitions to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to square off against the resurgent Opposition.
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