The railway project will connect two important religious destinations in India, said officials.
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the construction of the Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road railway line to be constructed by the Ministry of Railways at an estimated cost of Rs 2,798.16 crore.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to Twitter and wrote, “Modi ji is constantly working to revive the ancient pilgrimage sites of Indian culture and provide facilities to the devotees. Today is a big day for Gujarat. Modiji has decided to connect two famous pilgrimage places of Gujarat, Maa Ambaji Temple and Shri Ajitnath Jain Temple by rail.”
The total length of the new rail line will be 116.65 km. The project will be completed by 2026-27. The project will generate direct employment during construction for about 40 lakh mandays.
In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s vision of a New India, the project will to enhance connectivity and improve mobility leading to overall socio-economic development of the region.
Ambaji is a famous and 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 millions of devotees. Further, the devotees visiting the Ajitnath Jain temple (one of the 24 holy Jain Tirthankaras) at Taranga Hill would also be greatly benefitted by this connectivity. This railway line between Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road will connect these two important religious spots with the railway’s main network.
This line will 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 the existing Ahmedabad-Abu Road railway line.
The alignment of the proposed doubling will traverse through Sirohi district of Rajasthan and Banaskantha and Mahesana districts of Gujarat. The construction of the new railway line will attract investment and lead to overall socio-economic development of the region.
