New Delhi, July 16 -- The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved road and railway infrastructure projects worth more than Rs.18,300 crore, including a six-lane elevated corridor in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Varanasi, and two railway multitracking projects in Odisha and Jharkhand, aimed at improving urban mobility and freight connectivity under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. The biggest approval was for a 46-km greenfield elevated corridor connecting National Highway-19 with Varanasi Ring Road. Announcing the decisions after the cabinet meeting, Union minister for information and broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said the project had been designed to transform mobility in Varanasi while preserving the city's heritage. "A programme to develop infrastructure in a very new way has been designed for Varanasi... the core of the city will be completely decongested by this," Vaishnaw said. The project, estimated to cost Rs.14,447.64 crore, will be implemented under the Hybrid Annuity Model and is expected to significantly reduce congestion in the temple city. The project is expected to be completed within four years. According to the government, the elevated corridor will reduce travel time across its influence area from around 60 minutes to about 20 minutes. The project includes a 910-metre cable-stayed bridge across the Ganga and a 1.32-km foot overbridge-cum-major bridge with travelators to improve pedestrian access to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The corridor will also provide faster connectivity to Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi Junction, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction and other major transport hubs. Officials said it was designed to integrate with six key logistics nodes, including the Ramnagar inland waterway terminal. The two railway multitracking projects spanning 145 km in Odisha and Jharkhand were approved at an estimated cost of Rs.3,907 crore....