MALIGAON, Sep 16: Ashish Bansal, General Manager Northeast Frontier Railway (Construction), today addressed INFRABUILD Northeast 2026, Conference on Construction for Infrastructure held in Guwahati, highlighting the scale of ongoing railway infrastructure development in the Northeast, major project achievements, emerging opportunities and the increasing role of technology in ensuring safe, resilient and sustainable construction.
In his address, Bansal highlighted that NFR Construction is presently handling over 1,800 km of New Line and Doubling projects, including Capital Connectivity projects, with an overall project cost of approximately over Rs 96,000 crore. Around 596 km of these projects have already been completed, while a substantial programme of commissioning is planned over the next five years.
He emphasised that railway construction in the Northeast presents unique engineering challenges due to difficult terrain, heavy rainfall, geological uncertainties, landslides, environmental and land-related issues and limited accessibility. These challenges necessitate specialised engineering solutions, advanced construction techniques and continuous emphasis on safety, quality and resilience.Highlighting major achievements, Bansal stated that the 51km Bairabi–Sairang New Line has been completed, providing railway connectivity to Sairang, near Mizoram’s capital, through a challenging hill terrain involving extensive tunnelling and bridge construction.
The 111 km Araria–Galgalia New Line was fully commissioned on July 11, 2025. On the Dimapur–Kohima New Line, the Dhansiri–Shokhuvi and Shokhuvi–Molvom sections have already been commissioned, while the 14km Molvom–Pherima section is targeted for commissioning by March 2027.The strategically important Jiribam–Imphal New Line, spanning approximately 111 km, has witnessed commissioning of more than 55 km in phases. The next 9.10-km Khongsang–Awangkhul section is targeted for commissioning in October 2026.On the doubling front, Katihar–Kuretha (11 km) and Katihar–Sonaili (17 km) sections were commissioned on June 19, 2026.
Bansal also highlighted the significant pipeline of upcoming railway projects. NFR Construction currently has 69 surveys in various stages of progress and ongoing Final Location Surveys. Emphasising the importance of technology-driven construction, Bansal highlighted the adoption of NATM-based tunnelling, geological mapping, instrumentation, mechanised construction, drones, GNSS, GIS, BIM and digital project monitoring. He further emphasised that future railway infrastructure in the Northeast needs to be designed to withstand extreme weather conditions while minimising environmental impact.
Concluding his address, Bansal highlighted that the experience gained by NFR Construction in executing projects across difficult and challenging terrain has generated valuable institutional knowledge and innovative engineering practices. The focus remains on creating railway infrastructure that is safe, durable, technologically advanced, environmentally sustainable and delivered within committed time and cost parameters, thereby contributing significantly to enhanced connectivity and the overall development of the Northeast.