NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The cabinet approved on Wednesday a new, 86.8-billion-rupee ($1.43 billion) metro rail project in Maharashtra, the government said in a statement.
The go-ahead for the Nagpur rail project comes weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi permitted foreign investment in railways as part of his efforts to upgrade the nation's infrastructure for an economic turnaround.
Analysts reckon India's poor infrastructure shaves off as much as 2 percentage points from its gross domestic product.
Modi swept to power in May on a promise to revamp the creaking railway system, focusing on high-speed trains, as well as road and airport building.
($1 = 60.6100 rupees)
(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Mark Heinrich)