Overview
- The Cabinet approved a 33.7 km greenfield Gohpur–Numaligarh corridor featuring a 15.79 km twin‑tube road‑cum‑rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra at a sanctioned cost of Rs 18,662 crore on the EPC model.
- Design plans specify two tubes with cross‑passages about every 500 metres, with one tube provisioned for a single rail track where vehicular movement will pause during train operations; the tunnel is planned to run roughly 57 metres below the riverbed, according to the Assam CM.
- Connectivity gains include a distance cut from about 240 km to 34 km and a travel time drop from around six hours to roughly 20 minutes, with integration to NH‑15, NH‑715, Northeast Frontier Railway links and multiple economic, social, tourist and logistics nodes.
- Assam’s chief minister said land acquisition will begin within days and outlined a multi‑agency delivery involving NHIDCL, Indian Railways, the Assam government and the Indian Army, adding that the Defence Ministry is expected to contribute about 20% due to the project’s strategic role.
- During his Assam visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 1.24 km, six‑lane extradosed Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu in Guwahati, built at about Rs 3,030 crore, which is expected to cut the river crossing time to roughly seven minutes.