It will cover 25.72 kilometres at an estimated cost of INR 764.19 crore.

Punjab’s INR 764 Crore Ferozepur–Patti Rail Link: Connectivity, Trade and Employment

The Central Government has sanctioned the Ferozepur–Patti Rail Link Project. It will cover 25.72 kilometres at an estimated cost of INR 764.19 crore. Railways will bear the cost of land acquisition, INR 166 crore, that is included in the estimated cost. This initiative is for Punjab’s infrastructure and economic growth.

Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries, Ravneet Singh Bittu, announced this project in Chandigarh. He described it as a historic step aimed at strengthening Punjab’s connectivity and also reviving a long-lost route of strategic and economic importance. This new link will reduce the distance between Ferozepur and Amritsar from 196 km to about 100 km and shorten the Jammu–Ferozepur–Fazilka–Mumbai corridor by 236 km.

The Ferozepur–Patti line will connect the “Jalandhar–Ferozepur” and “Patti–Khemkaran” routes. This will form a crucial bridge between the Malwa and Majha regions of Punjab. It will pass through areas of strategic defence importance and will facilitate the “rapid movement of defence personnel, equipment, and supplies”.

The project also promises “major socio-economic benefits”. It will directly affect around 10 lakh people and generate nearly “2.5 lakh job opportunities”. It is expected to serve “2,500–3,500 daily passengers”, particularly “students, employees, and patients” from nearby villages.

Bittu emphasised that this project will spur trade and industrial growth, reduce freight costs, and improve access to agricultural markets. It will boost investment in education, healthcare, and essential infrastructure. It will also strengthen links between “Amritsar”—a major commercial, educational, and religious hub attracting over one lakh tourists on a daily basis—and “Ferozepur”, enhancing regional integration.

Importantly, the new alignment will revive a historic route lost during Partition. It will cut the “Ferozepur–Khemkaran distance from 294 km to 110 km”. Bittu thanked “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw” for this project.

Senior railway officials, including “DRM Ambala Vinod Bhatia, CPM Construction Ajai Varshney, CPM RLDA Balbir Singh, ADRM Firozpur Nitin Garg, and EDPG Dhananjay Singh”, were also present during the announcement.