India’s first underwater road-cum-rail tunnel to come up in Assam

Metro India News | NEW DELHI

In a major infrastructure push for the Northeast, the Union Cabinet on Friday approved a Rs 18,662-crore project to build a four-lane access-controlled greenfield corridor between Gohpur and Numaligarh in Assam, featuring India’s first underwater road-cum-rail tunnel beneath the Brahmaputra river.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared the project, which includes a 15.79-km-long road-cum-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra. The corridor will connect Gohpur on NH-15 with Numaligarh on NH-715 and will be developed under the engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) model.

At present, the distance between Numaligarh and Gohpur is around 240 km, with commuters using the Kaliabhomora bridge near Silghat. The journey takes nearly six hours and passes through Kaziranga National Park and Biswanath Town. The new tunnel and corridor are expected to significantly reduce travel time and improve connectivity across the region.

This will be India’s first underwater road-cum-rail tunnel and only the second such project globally. The government said the corridor would benefit Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and other northeastern states by improving freight efficiency, lowering logistics costs and strengthening regional integration.

The project will link 11 economic nodes, three social nodes, two tourist hubs and eight logistics nodes. It will also provide better connectivity to four major railway stations, two airports and two inland waterways, ensuring seamless multimodal transport.

Officials said the project would have strategic importance, enhance connectivity between key economic centres and boost trade and industrial growth. It is also expected to generate nearly 80 lakh person-days of employment, both direct and indirect, contributing to socio-economic development in the region.