The 52-km-long rail line connecting Sevoke in West Bengal with Rangpo in Sikkim is now projected to be operational by December 2023, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) General Manager Anshul Gupta said on Saturday.
Construction of the rail line, which will have six stations, started in 2009 when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the railway minister.
It was initially scheduled to be completed by 2015 but has been facing challenges due to difficult terrain and land-related hiccups, which caused a delay in the project.
The estimated cost of the project has also increased from Rs 1,300 crore to over Rs 5,000 crore.
An official of the Indian Railway Construction Company, which is implementing the project, said that 30 per cent of the work has been completed so far.
Gupta had met Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang earlier this week and discussed the ongoing project.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU