Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 23 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will inaugurate the new Ashti-Ahmednagar new line on Friday.

New Ashti-Ahmednagar broad gauge is around 66 km long and is a part of the 261 km Ahmednagar-Beed-Parli Vaijnath new broad gauge line project which is on 50-50 cost sharing between the Government of India and State Government of Maharashtra.

According to Railways, this service will ensure better connectivity to residents of the New Ashti-Ahmednagar belt and nearby areas and promote local trade and industries, thus boosting the socio-economic growth of the (Marathwada) region. This DEMU train will halt at Kada, New Dhanora, Solapurwadi, New Loni and Narayandoho.

The Ahmednagar- Beed- Parli Vaijyanath broad-gauge railway line and the conversion of the Nagpur- Nagbhid narrow-gauge rail line into a broad-gauge one, Rs 350 crore and Rs 107.22 crore respectively will be earmarked as the state government's share of the project.

The department of land records will get Rs 15 crore for purchasing continuous operating reference stations (CORS) rovers and electronic total station (ETS) machines to conduct faster and more modern land surveys and generate accurate land records.

As far as the political background of the Parli-Beed-Ahmednagar route is concerned, in the year 1995, the Nagar-Beed-Parli railway line was approved. However, the work of this route was stopped for many years due to a lack of political will. At that time, the cost of this project exceeded around 4000 crores. Nagar Ashti Marg has also been completed. But the train is not running.

Besides the CM, Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve and other political dignitaries would be present during the inauguration. (ANI)