Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two highway projects for Varanasi

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two highway projects for Varanasi

¨     Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved two highway projects for Varanasi on 15 July 2026.

¨     The two projects involve an investment of more than ₹25,400 crore.

¨     They are part of the Varanasi Decongestion Plan.

¨     The projects aim to improve road connectivity between major national highways, the Varanasi Ring Road, railway access points, and key religious sites in the city.

¨     The first project is the Varuna River Corridor.

¨     It has an estimated cost of ₹10,998.32 crore.

¨     The corridor has a total length of 43.218 kilometres.

¨     It is a predominantly 6/4-lane elevated corridor.

¨     The corridor will connect National Highway-31 (NH-31) with the Varanasi Ring Road along the Varuna River.

¨     It is expected to reduce travel time between NH-31 and Kashi Railway Station from 40 minutes to 20 minutes.

¨     The second project is the Ganga River Corridor.

¨     It has an estimated cost of ₹14,447.64 crore.

¨     The corridor has a total length of 46.039 kilometres.

¨     It is a six-lane elevated corridor connecting National Highway-19 (NH-19) with the Varanasi Ring Road along the Ganga River.

¨     The project includes a 910-metre cable-stayed bridge across the Ganga River

¨     It also includes a 1.32-kilometre extradosed foot overbridge equipped with travelators for pedestrian movement towards the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.