The Union Cabinet has approved the construction of a twin-tube tunnel under the River Brahmaputra in Assam, a major infrastructure push that will link Gohpur on NH-15 with Numaligarh on NH-715. The ambitious 33.7 km project will be built on the Engineering, Procurement and Construction model at a total capital cost of Rs 18,662.02 crore, including civil works of Rs 11,982.36 crore and land acquisition costs of Rs 716.65 crore.
At the heart of the project is a 15.79 km twin-tube tunnel to be executed using Tunnel Boring Machine technology, with two lanes in each tube. One of the tubes will also incorporate railway infrastructure, creating a rare road-rail integration beneath the Brahmaputra. The project also includes 1.26 km of road cut-and-cover and 4 km of rail cut-and-cover sections.
The tunnel will connect key national highways NH-15 and NH-715 and integrate with major railway lines, including the Rangia–Mukongselek section on the Gohpur side and the Furkating–Mariani loop line on the Numaligarh side. It will improve connectivity to airports such as Donyi Polo Airport in Itanagar and Tezpur Airport, multiple railway stations, inland waterway terminals at Biswanath Ghat and Tezpur, and several industrial clusters across Assam.
Strategically, the corridor will link major cities and towns including Numaligarh, Tezpur, Gohpur and Dibrugarh in Assam, as well as Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. It will also enhance access to key tourist destinations such as Kaziranga National Park and the Deopahar Archaeological Site.
The project is expected to generate around 80 lakh man-days of direct and indirect employment. With an estimated annual average daily traffic of 4,680 passenger car units in FY25, the tunnel is poised to significantly ease travel, strengthen economic integration and boost regional development across Northeast India.