Overview

• The Cabinet approved doubling of the 104-km Bakhtiyarpur–Rajgir–Tilaiya rail section at a cost of ₹2,192 crore to ease congestion and lift freight capacity by an estimated 26 MTPA.
• A 78.942 km greenfield, four-lane Sahebganj–Areraj–Bettiah stretch of NH-139W will be built under Hybrid Annuity Mode for ₹3,822.31 crore, targeting average speeds of 80 km/h and cutting Sahebganj–Bettiah travel time from 2.5 hours to about 1 hour.
• Rail connectivity gains are projected to serve roughly 1,434 villages and 13.46 lakh people, including the aspirational districts of Gaya and Nawada, with links to tourism sites such as Rajgir, Nalanda and Pawapuri.
• The highway corridor will connect Patna to Bettiah across key north Bihar districts, tie into NH-31, NH-722, NH-727, NH-27 and NH-227A, and improve access to the Indo–Nepal border and major Buddhist and heritage attractions.
• Official estimates cite oil savings of 5 crore litres and 24 crore kg of CO2 reduction from the rail upgrade, while the highway is expected to generate about 14.22 lakh direct and 17.69 lakh indirect man-days of employment; several outlets noted the timing ahead of state elections.