Union Cabinet Approves Varanasi Elevated Highway Corridors Worth Rs 25,446 Crore

Exam-focused facts from the 18 July 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

The Union Cabinet approved two elevated highway corridors in Varanasi at a total cost of Rs 25,446 crore.
The Varuna river corridor (43 km) will connect NH-31 to Varanasi ring road and reduce travel time to Kashi railway station from 40 to 20 minutes.
The Ganga river corridor (46 km) will connect NH-19 to Varanasi ring road and feature a 910 m cable-stayed bridge and a foot over bridge with travelator to Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
The projects will be executed under the hybrid annuity mode (HAM) as part of the Varanasi Decongestion Plan.
The Cabinet also approved doubling of the 74-km Paradeep-Haridaspur railway line in Odisha and quadrupling of the 71-km Rajkharsawan-Dangoaposi line in Jharkhand.