The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the construction of a new 4.56 km long, 6-lane bridge on the river Ganga, connecting Digha and Sonepur in Bihar, according to an official statement.

The total cost for the project is estimated at Rs 3,064.45 crore, including Rs 2,233.81 crore for civil construction, it added.

The bridge will make traffic faster and easier, resulting in the overall development of the state, especially north Bihar, the statement noted.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for the construction of the new 4,556 m long, 6-lane high level/ extra dosed cable-stayed bridge across River Ganga (Parallel to Western Side of existing Digha-Sonepur Rail-Cum Road Bridge) and its approaches on both sides in the districts of Patna and Saran (NH-139W) in Bihar on EPC mode," it said.

Digha (situated at Patna and South Bank of Ganga River) and Sonepur (North Bank of Ganga River in Saran District) are presently connected by a rail cum road bridge for the movement of light vehicles only.

Therefore, the statement said, the present road cannot be used for the transport of goods and commodities, which is a major economic blockade.

The constraint will be removed by providing the bridge between Digha and Sonepur, and goods and commodities can be transported once the bridge is constructed, unleashing the economic potential of the region, as per the statement.

The work is to be implemented on an EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) model with the use of the latest technology like 5D-building information modelling (BIM), bridge health monitoring system (BHMS) and monthly drone mapping to ensure quality of construction and operations.

The work is targeted to be completed in 42 months from the appointed date.

"This bridge will provide direct connectivity from Patna to Golden quadrilateral corridor via NH-139 at Aurangabad and Sonepur (NH-31), Chhapra, Motihari (East-West corridor oldNH-27), Bettiah (NH-727) in the Northern side of Bihar," the statement said.

It also pointed out that this project is a part of the Buddha circuit.

According to the statement, the economic analysis results of the project have shown an economic internal rate of return (EIRR) of 17.6 per cent in base case and 13.1 per cent in worst case scenario which may be attributed to the savings in distance and time travelled.

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