Union Cabinet approves infrastructure projects worth Rs 12,236 crore across railways, aviation, urban transport, power and agriculture

Key facts

• The Union Cabinet approved infrastructure and policy proposals worth Rs 12,236 crore, covering railways, aviation, urban transport, power sector reforms and agriculture.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) cleared three railway projects—Gondia-Jabalpur doubling, Punarakh-Kiul third and fourth line, and Gamharia-Chandil third and fourth line—costing Rs 9,072 crore.
• These railway projects span Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, adding 307 km to the network and enhancing connectivity to 5,407 villages with a population of nearly 98 lakh.
• The railway capacity augmentation is expected to handle 52 million tonnes of additional freight traffic per annum, save 6 crore litres of oil and cut CO2 emissions by 30 crore kg.
• CCEA approved a new civil enclave at Srinagar International Airport at a cost of Rs 1,677 crore, featuring a 71,500 square metre terminal with peak-hour capacity of 2,900 passengers and annual capacity of 10 million passengers.
• The Srinagar airport project includes a 1,000-car multi-level car park, apron for 15 aircraft and targets a 5-star GRIHA rating.
• The Cabinet cleared a 3.33-km Ahmedabad Metro extension from GIFT City to Shahpur at Rs 1,067.35 crore with three elevated stations to be implemented by Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
• The Ahmedabad Metro extension is projected to serve over 23,700 passengers daily by 2029 and nearly 58,000 by 2041.
• Power sector reforms enhanced delegation to Powergrid, raising per-project equity investment limit for subsidiaries from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 7,500 crore to boost participation in high-value tariff-based competitive bidding projects.
• The Cabinet approved renaming Kerala to 'Keralam' through the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to be referred by the President to the Kerala Legislative Assembly under Article 3 of the Constitution.
• The Cabinet fixed the minimum support price (MSP) for raw jute (TD-3 grade) at Rs 5,925 per quintal for 2026-27, an increase of Rs 275 per quintal over the previous year.