Two road and two railway projects worth over Rs 7,600 crore were recommended by Prime Minister Gati Shakti to enhance connectivity in the country.

According to the 54th Network Planning Group (NPG) meeting chaired by special secretary, logistics, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Sumita Dawra in New Delhi, four key infrastructure projects were examined for early implementation.

The meeting saw active participation from member departments and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Ministry of Power.

During the meeting, two projects of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and two projects of the Ministry of Railways with a total cost of Rs 7,693.17 crore were assessed.

Dawra stressed upon the importance of utilising the Gati Shakti national master plan portal and adopting the 'whole of government' approach for infrastructure planning and execution.

She emphasised upon the critical importance of the projects in terms of connectivity to economic and social nodes of the area and accentuated on following an area-development approach.

NPG examined four-lane Thiruvananthapuram Outer Ring Road, under Bharatmala Pariyojana, in Kerala worth Rs 4,767.20 crore. This project corridor is a part of the Mumbai-Kanyakumari Economic Corridor.

The project is essential to provide smooth and faster connectivity to eastern region from northern region and will boost the economic growth in economically backward regions.

The project will reduce travel time, save vehicle operation cost, and will provide last-mile connectivity to the new international sea port in Vizhinjam.

Another road project, Dahod-Bodeli-Vapi corridor with a project outlay of Rs 1,179.33 crore was assessed by the NPG. The project road starts at the junction of the new Vadodara-Delhi Expressway and ends at post Mumbai-Vadodara expressway.

It forms an important connectivity with Bodeli, Devaliya, Rajpipla, Netrang, Vyara, Dharampur, Vapi and further Southwards to Mumbai via Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway under implementation.

The project will improve road network, benefiting the local people by reducing travel time, travel distance as well as transportation cost. It will also boost socio-economic development and tourism along the project road.

NPG also deliberated on a new broad gauge railway line between Pushkar–Merta in Rajasthan with a project cost of Rs 799.64 crore.

The proposed new line will provide direct connectivity from central India to northern India, as well as, to the western border. Further, it is expected to decongest and reduce pressure on the highways.

Another rail project in Rajasthan, a new broad-gauge line between Merta City-Ras Railway Stations worth Rs 947 crore was assessed by the NPG.

The project holds significance in facilitating quicker movement of goods and promoting industrial and overall development in the region encompassing Pali and Nagaur districts of Rajasthan.