PM to lay foundation for 22,864-cr high-speed corridor in March: Himanta

Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the Silchar-Shillong-Guwahati high-speed corridor project in March, which will be a game-changing road, reducing travel time from Silchar to Guwahati by around 5 hours, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday. Besides this, the PM will also lay the foundation of Kamakhya ropeway project.

“This will be a game-changing road, reducing travel time from Silchar to Guwahati to 4.5-5 hours. It is the biggest project being implemented by the Union govt in Assam, with a total cost of Rs 22,864 crore,” Sarma said while addressing the media on Sunday here.





PM Modi is scheduled to visit Assam in March ahead of the assembly polls, which will be his fourth visit to the poll-bound state since Dec.

The high-speed corridor was announced by the Union cabinet in April last year. The project spans a length of 166.80km, with 144.80km in Meghalaya and 22km in Assam.

The proposed greenfield high-speed corridor will improve connectivity to Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and the Barak Valley of Assam from the mainland and Guwahati, with reduced travel distances and time.

The CM said, “The PM will also lay the foundation for the Kamakhya ropeway project, which will connect the Kamakhya railway station with the temple.” He added that the govt has already floated the tender for the ropeway project and the process will be completed soon.

The Gauhati high court on Thursday allowed the state govt to proceed with the Maa Kamakhya Temple Access Corridor project to facelift the temple premises, after the state govt assured the court that “execution of the project would be as per the drawings and designs approved by IIT Guwahati and the project would be executed without affecting the temples in any manner whatsoever.”

“After some people opposed the corridor, the Gauhati high court asked IIT Guwahati and the National Institute of Hydrology to study if the project would have any ecological impact. They said there would be no impact,” the CM said. Sarma said the work for the stalled Maa Kamakhya Temple Access Corridor project under the PM-DevINE scheme is likely to resume soon, as the expert committee report did not raise any adverse comments.

Sarma said central projects worth around Rs 55,000 crore have been sanctioned for the state in the past one year. “The Centre had assured infrastructure projects worth Rs 80,000 crore during the second Advantage Assam investment summit last year, and the state has already received approval for different projects worth Rs 55,000 crore,” he said.

The CM also said the central govt will soon sanction the elevated corridor connecting the Guwahati airport with Jalukbari, via which the ring road will pass, at Rs 1,500 crore.

“The Centre is likely to approve a Rs 1,500 crore project in a day or two to construct an elevated corridor from Guwahati airport to Jalukbari, the entry point of the state capital. On the other hand, the Rs 14,000-crore project for four-laning of the national highway from Baihata Chariali to Tezpur is at last stages of approval. We hope for it very soon,” he added.

Additionally, he said various infrastructural works are ongoing at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for Rs 2,200 crore and Assam Medical College and Hospital for Rs 600 crore.

The CM said another highway project is being planned from the semiconductor plant at Jagiroad in Morigaon district to the Bhutan border via Udalguri by building another bridge over the Brahmaputra. “This project is under active consideration of the Centre. These strategic assets will also be used by civilians,” he added.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the PM, on Friday approved the construction of India’s first 34-km-long twin-tube road-cum-rail tunnel underneath the Brahmaputra between Gohpur and Numaligarh at Rs 18,662 crore.