The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the construction of Taranga Hill-Ambaji- Abu Road new rail line, linking two key religious places in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The 116.65 km long line will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2798.16 crore and will be completed by 2026-27. The project will generate direct employment during construction for about 40 lakh mandays. The government has approved the project ahead of Gujarat elections later this year. Rajasthan will go to polls next year.
Briefing the media about the significance of the new raliway line, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said, “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 devotees. Further, the devotees visiting the Ajitnath Jain temple (one of the 24 holy Jain Tirthankaras) at Taranga Hill would also be greatly benefited by this connectivity.”
This new line will connect these two important religious spots with railway’s main network. The line will also 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 cabinet statement said.
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.
