3 min readAhmedabadJul 16, 2026 04:02 AM IST
First published on: Jul 16, 2026 at 12:55 AM IST
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the construction of two elevated highway corridors worth Rs 25,446 crore along the rivers Varuna and Ganga in Varanasi. The projects come amid mounting congestion in the city, exacerbated by the government’s push to promote religious tourism.
Varanasi receives around 15 crore tourists annually, placing immense pressure on the city’s mobility system and increasing traffic congestion.
The Cabinet approved the development of a 43-km link corridor connecting NH-31 and Varanasi ring road along the river Varuna and 46-km link corridor between NH-19 and Varanasi ring road along the river Ganga. The projects will be developed under the hybrid annuity mode (HAM). The corridor is a major component of the Varanasi Decongestion Plan.
The Varuna river project will have a 6/4-lane predominantly elevated corridor with a design speed of 80-100 kmph, including main carriageway, flyovers, loops, ramps and service roads. Officials said this will reduce travel time between NH-31 to Kashi railway station from 40 minutes to 20 minutes.
The Ganga river project will have a 6-lane elevated main carriageway with an iconic 910 m cable-stayed bridge across the river, a 1.32 km extradosed foot over bridge-cum-major bridge with a travelator providing pedestrian connectivity to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, a Rail Over Bridge across the proposed Malviya Bridge, loops, ramps, link roads and service roads. The corridor has been conceived to decongest the road network of Varanasi and Chandauli by providing connection between NH-19, Varanasi Ring Road (NH-135B), Ramnagar, BHU and other key centres.
Reduction in travel time; Odisha, Jharkhand projects get Cabinet nod
The project will decongest the NH-19 (Prayagraj-Varanasi), traffic from BHU-Ramnagar and NH-35 (Varanasi-Mirzapur) by diverting traffic away from the densely developed urban core. The officials said it will also reduce the average travel time across project influence areas from 60 minutes to about 20 minutes, with a design speed of 80-100 kmph.
The Cabinet also approved two Railways infrastructure projects — namely doubling of 74-km Paradeep-Haridaspur line in Odisha and quadrupling of 71-km Rajkharsawan-Dangoaposi line in Jharkhand. The Paradeep-Haridaspur line connects the Paradeep port to Howrah-Chennai high density route at Haridaspur, and further to Talcher coal fields, iron ore mines and steel plants.
These are among the country’s busiest freight corridors, transporting commodities such as coal, iron ore, dolomite, limestone and gypsum. According to the officials, the multitracking works will increase the freight traffic by 44 mtpa.
Varanasi receives around 15 crore tourists annually, placing immense pressure on the city's mobility system and increasing traffic congestion.
Share
