Ccea Clears 2 Railway Projects Worth Rs 203 Crore

The Cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) cleared investment proposals including two railway projects involving over Rs 203 crore and a power evacuation scheme at a cost of Rs 390.12 crore. Parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan told reporters here today that the CCEA approved the doubling of the 25-km Rajatgarh-Barang branch line at a cost of Rs 133.54 crore.

The project, to be funded out of the internal resources of the railways, is aimed at meeting the growing demand for power grade coal from Talcher coal fields in Orissa to the power stations in southern India.

The CCEA at its meeting on Monday evening also approved the upgradation of railway infrastructure facilities to introduce the multi-modal transport system (MMTS) on the Secunderabad-Falaknuma-Hyderabad-Lingampalli section at a cost of Rs 69.96 crore.

The cost would be shared equally by the Andhra Pradesh government and the railways. Mahajan said the approval was given subject to a surcharge of not less than 25 per cent of the fare to be levied for journey on the system which would accrue to the railways.

The CCEA also approved a scheme for strengthening of the grid system and evacuation of power from Ramagundam Stage-III in Andhra Pradesh.

The estimated cost of the project, expected to be commissioned in 48 months, is Rs 390.12 crore.

A two-year pilot project for Hepatitis-B immunisation for infants on the lines of the Pulse Polio programme, to be launched in the country with a Rs 23.89 crore grant from Unicef, was also approved by the CCEA.

The cost of training, contingency and evaluation estimates at Rs 3.30 crore would be met out of the outlay for reproductive and child health programme of the department of family welfare.

The pilot project to be taken up in slums of metropolitan cities and 32 select districts, is aimed at studying the operational feasibility of the introduction of the Hepatitis B vaccine for infants.

The CCEA also cleared a proposal for the purchase of two Dauphin helicopters by Pawan Hans at a cost of Rs 49.56 crore to augment its fleet. A proposal for the implementation of the World Bank-aided Forestry Research Education and Extension (Free) project at a revised cost of Rs 215.6 crore to strengthen infrastructure for research was also approved.