New Delhi, Sep 2 (Reporter) The Government on Monday cleared a major railway project connecting two commercial hubs – Mumbai and Indore through the “shortest” rail route of 309 kms, costing about Rs 18,036 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today approved the project. Apart from connecting commercial hubs Mumbai & Indore through the shortest rail route, this will also connect the unconnected areas of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh passing through 2 Districts of Maharashtra and 4 Districts of Madhya Pradesh, I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said after the meeting. The total cost of project is Rs 18,036 crore and will be completed by 2028-29, he said, adding the project will also generate direct employment for about 102 lakh man-days during construction. The proposed new line between Indore and Manmad will provide direct connectivity and improve mobility, providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. The project is in line with Prime Minister Modi’s Vision of a New India which will make people of the region “Atmanirbhar” by way of comprehensive development in the area which will enhance their employment/ self-employment opportunities, the Minister said. The project is result of PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity which have been possible through integrated planning and will provide seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services. The project covers 6 Districts in 2 States i.e., Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 309 Kms, Vaishnaw said and added that with this project 30 New Stations will be constructed, providing enhancing connectivity to Aspirational District Barwani. New Line project will provide connectivity to approx. 1,000 villages and about 30 Lakh population. The project will promote tourism in the region by providing shorter route between Western/ South-Western part of the country with Central India. This will increase the tourist footfall to various tourist/ religious places of Ujjain – Indore region including Sri Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple. Iti will provide direct connectivity to Pithampur Auto Cluster (houses 90 large units and 700 small and medium industries) from gateway port of JNPA and other state ports. The project will also provide direct connectivity to millet producing districts of Madhya Pradesh and Onion producing districts of Maharashtra which further facilitates in the distribution of the same to northern and southern parts of the country. This is an essential route for transportation of commodities such as agriculture products, fertilizer, containers, iron ore, steel, cement, POL etc. The capacity augmentation work will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude of about 26 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum). The Railways being environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimizing logistics cost of the country, reduce oil import (18 Crore Litres) and lower CO2 emissions (138 Crore Kg) which is equivalent to plantation of 5.5 Crore trees, the Minister added...////...