The recent announcement by BJP led government at centre towards development of railway connectivity in the states of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh is a welcome move. PM Modi led cabinet has approved a rail project of rs 7,000 crore for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. The estimated time of completion of this project is 5 years. The first project involves doubling the Narkatiaganj-Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga and Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur sections, spanning 256 km in Bihar, at an estimated cost of ₹4,553 crore. This initiative is expected to increase connectivity to Nepal and north east states of the country.
The second project involves constructing a new rail line between Errupalem and Namburu via Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, covering 57 km, at a cost of ₹2,245 crore.The railway line is proposed to cross
Guntur and Vijayawada district in Andhra Pradesh and khamman district in Telengana and as such the railway line will provide direct connectivity to Amravati, the proposed capital of Andhra pradesh. This new setup will enhance transportation and help furtherance of mobility of industrial goods and people and enhance socio economic connectivity.
The railway project of Amravati can be seen as a part of budget presented in current year as nirmala sitaraman had rightly remarked that recognising the state’s need of a capital city, centre will facilitate special financial support through multilateral development agencies. The Amravati railway connectivity project is supposed to bring the capital city of Andhra Pradesh closer to that of Hyderabad, chennai, Kolkata and Nagpur.
The railway ministry claimed that the project will help boost economic growth in these two states as well as India as a whole. The 57 km long railway track sanctioned for Amarvati ensures it’s efficient connectivity to almost all major metro cities of the country and as such will prove to be a boon to the state of Andhra Pradesh. For railway track to be laid down in Bihar it is supposed to cover a total of 40 bridges in bihar, encompassing the areas of eastern and western champaran, sitamarhi, darbhanga and Muzaffarpur district, which will provide conducive conditions for the connectivity of mithilanchal region to the eastern port and thus will attract industrial setup, generating millions of jobs.
The Ministry claimed that it will result in additional freight traffic of magnitude 31 MTPA (Million Tonnes Per Annum).
If we take a look at the approved project through political angle, we must be reminded of the coalition government that sits at the centre. In the 2024 election results though the Modi led BJP government acquired majority vote but that was not enough to form a government at the centre. According to parliamentary laws a party or a coalition government need a minimum of 272 seats or atleast than 50% majority to form the government. In 2024 election the BJP party secured 240 seats in loksabha falling short by 32 seats to form a government. In this situation Telgu Desam party and JDU came forward to form coalition government with 16 seats and 12 seats respectively on the condition of grant of special status and package to the states of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and the current move of bestowing the multilateral development railway project upon these states can be seen as a step ahead in this area.
The true to life team visited Gargi college of DU and had talk with few students of the political science background, one of them named Aaradhna jha who belonged to the state of Bihar calls it a welcome move in the area of socio economic development of the state and links it political angle mentioning that something as such was supposed to come as Telgu desham party and JDU has acted as a kingmaker in setting up of current central government.
This move can also been seen as a part of National railway plan announced in budget of 2021-22, which aims to create a future ready railway system by 2030.