Doubling of Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag route (284 Km) of railways
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved doubling of the Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag railway line at an anticipated cost of Rs.1618 crore and completion cost of Rs.2058 crore. Out of this, Rs.946 crore (completion cost) is already received from NTPC under the Customer Funding Model for doubling of the stretch between Hotgi-Kudgi (134 km) and the remaining amount of Rs.1107.58 crore will be funded through the Gross Budgetary Support of Ministry of Railways or Extra Budgetary Resources or both. A number of Integrated Steel Plants/Power Plants/Cement Plants are coming up along the Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag route. This doubling work will provide the necessary line capacity for introduction of additional trains and smooth movement of rakes to/from the industries/power plants. This will also boost overall development of the region. In view of the industrial activities taking place in the area, demands are also being received for running of additional train services through this route.
Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag route is a single line rail link between Guntakal-Pune-Mumbai and Hospet-Hubli-Goa rail routes. This is an important rail link connecting the cities of Bangalore and Mumbai.