Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given approval for the construction of a 33.7 km twin-tube underwater tunnel project beneath the Brahmaputra River in Assam, including provision for railway infrastructure in one tube.
The project involves building a 4-lane access-controlled greenfield highway connecting Gohpur on NH-15 to Numaligarh on NH-715, with a 15.79 km twin-tube Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) section under the river. One tube will carry road traffic (2 lanes each direction), while the other will include rail infrastructure, making it India’s first road-cum-rail underwater tunnel and only the second of its kind globally.
The total estimated cost is ₹18,662 crore, to be implemented on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode. The corridor will significantly improve all-weather connectivity, reduce travel time, lower logistics costs, and benefit Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and other North-Eastern states by linking key economic zones, industrial areas, tourist spots like Kaziranga National Park, and major cities such as Tezpur, Dibrugarh, and Itanagar.
This landmark infrastructure project marks a major step in integrated multimodal transport development in the Northeast, combining road and rail in a single underwater alignment for enhanced regional integration and strategic importance.
