India To Build Its 1st Underwater Road-Rail Tunnel At Rs 18,000 Crore

At present, the distance between Numaligarh on National Highway 715 and Gohpur on NH-15 is 240 km. This goes via Kaliabhambhora near Silghat on NH-52, which takes six hours

15 Feb 2026, 04:25 · www.ndtv.com

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India approved an Rs 18,662-crore project for a four-lane greenfield corridor in Assam
The corridor includes India’s first underwater road and rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra river
The new route will reduce travel time between Gohpur and Numaligarh from six hours to less than two hours

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New Delhi:

India has approved a Rs 18,662-crore project to build a four-lane access-controlled greenfield corridor between Gohpur and Numaligarh, featuring India's first road-and-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra river in Assam.

At present, the distance between Numaligarh on National Highway 715 and Gohpur on NH-15 is 240 km. This goes via Kaliabhambhora near Silghat on NH-52, which takes six hours.

This route passes through Numaligarh, Kaziranga National Park, and Biswanath town.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the construction of the four-lane, access-controlled greenfield road on Saturday. It will be developed on an engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) model, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said.

This will be the first underwater road-and-rail tunnel in India and the second in the world. The project will provide significant benefit to Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and other northeast states. It will also enhance the efficiency of freight movement, reduce logistics costs and drive socio-economic growth in the region.

The project provides seamless connectivity to key economic, social, and logistics nodes across Assam.

Additionally, it will enhance multi-modal integration by connecting with 11 economic nodes, three social nodes, two tourist nodes and eight logistic nodes, providing enhanced connectivity with four major railway stations, two airports, and two inland waterways.

Once completed, the project will play a pivotal role in strategic considerations, regional economic growth, strengthening connectivity between major economic centres and opening new avenues for trade and industrial development.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a historic landing at the first emergency landing field in the northeast aboard a C-130J aircraft. PM Modi had taken off from Chabua airfield, and landed at the ELF in Moran.

The China factor is one the the key reasons behind the significance of the ELF on the Dibrugarh-Moran stretch of a national highway in Assam. It can accommodate frontline fighter jets and transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) during emergencies.

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