New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the construction of a new 4.56 kilometers long, six-lane bridge across the river Ganga connecting Digha and Sonepur in Bihar.

The total cost for the project is over Rs 3064 crore which will help to connect North and South Bihar.

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

Briefing media here, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said, “Bihar has great potential and PM Modi has always given various big projects for the development of the state.

“This project is aimed at providing faster commutes and better connectivity between the North and South Parts of Bihar and promoting the socio-economic growth of the entire region” he added.

In another decision, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has also given its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for copra for the 2024 season.

The MSP for Fair Average Quality of milling copra has been fixed at Rs.11,160 per quintal and for ball copra at Rs.12.00 per quintal for 2024 season.

“This will ensure a margin of 51.84 percent for milling copra and 63.26 percent for ball copra, which are well beyond 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production,” a statement said.

The MSP for the 2024 season is an increase of Rs.300 per quintal for milling copra and Rs.250- per quintal for ball copra over the previous season.

In the last 10 years, the Government has increased MSP for milling copra and ball copra from Rs.5,250 per quintal and Rs.5,500 per quintal in 2014-15 to Rs.11,160 per quintal and Rs.12,000 per quintal in 2024-25, registering a growth of 113 percent and 118 percent, respectively.

The Cabinet also approved for improvement and widening to two lanes with paved shoulder of road from km 101.300 (Khowai) to km 236.213 (Harina) of NH-208, covering a total length of 134.913 kms in Tripura.

The project involves investment of Rs.2,486.78 crore which includes a loan component of Rs.1,511.70 crore.

The loan assistant will be from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under Official Development Assistance (ODA) scheme.

“The construction period for the project stretches will be 2 years which includes the maintenance of these National Highways stretches for 5 years”, the statement added.