Health Minister Nadda Reviews Himachal Road, Railway Projects During Bilaspur Visit

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda arrived in Bilaspur, his home district in Himachal Pradesh, for a one-day visit and chaired a meeting at the Savings Bhawan located in the Deputy Commissioner’s office complex. The meeting focused on the progress of projects under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, railway projects and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) projects in Himachal Pradesh.

Nadda sought information from the concerned officials about the progress reports of these projects. Mandi Lok Sabha MP Kangana Ranaut, Kangra Lok Sabha MP Dr Rajiv Bhardwaj and Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Mahajan were present at the meeting.

Bilaspur Sadar MLA Trilok Jamwal, Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma, Jhanduta MLA Jeet Ram Katwal and former Cabinet minister Rajendra Garg also attended the meeting. Administrative officials were present as well.

After the meeting, Nadda held a press conference and shared details of the projects and the discussions. He said that under the national highway projects in Himachal Pradesh, an investment of ₹55,103 crore had been made on a network covering 2,592 kilometres across 25 national highways.

Speaking about the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Nadda said that work was being carried out on 4,170 roads covering 26,506 kilometres in the state. He said ₹13,697 crore was being spent on these roads.

Nadda said that nine roads under the first phase were still pending. He said instructions had been issued to complete these roads by March 2027.

The Union Health Minister also gave details of the Kiratpur-Manali four-lane project. He said the project had a cost of ₹12,939 crore and included 31 tunnels with a combined length of 44 kilometres. The target has been set to complete the project by March 2027.

He further said that the Shimla-Matour corridor involved an expenditure of ₹10,226 crore. The project includes 15 tunnels with a combined length of 13.6 kilometres. Its completion target has been fixed for 2029-30.

Nadda also discussed the railway projects being undertaken in Himachal Pradesh. He said the 62-kilometre-long Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Bairi railway line had an estimated cost of ₹13,410 crore.

Referring to the project, Nadda said the state government’s share payable to the Centre was 25 per cent, amounting to ₹4,818 crore. However, he said the state government had deposited only ₹847 crore so far.

He also said that the issue of land acquisition from Bilaspur to Bairi had been pending with the state government for the last three years. Because of this, he said, it had not been possible to build the railway line beyond Bilaspur.

Nadda also provided details of the Chandigarh-Baddi railway line. He said the project was expected to cost around ₹1,540 crore, of which ₹1,160 crore had already been spent. The target for completing the project has been set for December 2027.

According to Nadda, the state government’s liability towards the Centre for this project was ₹348 crore. Of this amount, ₹231 crore had been transferred.

The Union minister also targeted the state government over the implementation of central projects. He said the central government was bringing several schemes in the areas of national highways, railway projects and health. However, he alleged that the state government was not serious about these schemes.

Nadda said that during 2024-25, the central government had given ₹2,381 crore to the state. He further said that ₹2006 crore had been provided under National Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction.

He added that ₹2150 crore had been provided for reconstruction under the “एस्ट्रेनली एडिट्स प्रोजेक्ट्स”. Nadda said the state government’s Chief Minister and ministers never mention these funds.