The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved a special 116.65-km Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road rail line on the religious route between Gujarat and Rajasthan at an estimated cost of Rs 2,798.16 crore.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur informed media persons that the project to be built by the Union Ministry of Railways will link two states and three religious places and will be completed by 2026-27.
The proposed rail line will traverse through the Sirohi district of Rajasthan and North Gujarat’s Sabarkantha, Banaskantha and Mehsana districts. Ambaji is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths, which attracts lakhs of pilgrims from Gujarat as well as other parts of the country and abroad every year.
Mount Abu is the headquarters of the Brahma Kumari community and is frequented by its followers from around the world. The construction of this railway line will facilitate easy travel for lakhs of devotees. Those visiting the temple of Ajitnath Jain (one of the 24 Tirthankaras) at Taranga Hill will generate direct employment for about 40 lakh man-days, according to the union minister.
”The estimated cost of this project is Rs 2,798.16 crore and will be completed by 2026-27. The new railway line will connect two states, and three religious places and will reduce the load on the main railway line,” Thakur said. He claimed that besides enhancing connectivity and mobility, the project would lead to the overall socio-economic development of the region.
This line will facilitate faster movement of agricultural and local products and improve mobility of the people between Gujarat and Rajasthan as well as to other parts of the country. The project will also provide an alternative route to the existing Ahmedabad-Abu Road railway line. The new line shall also benefit the dairy industry of Mehsana and the marble industry of Gujarat, the union minister claimed.
