Historic Qadian-Beas Railway Line Project Revived After Nearly 100 Years: Sh. Ravneet Singh Bittu

• Qadian–Beas New Railway Line is a 39.68 km broad-gauge corridor revived by the Ministry of Railways in Punjab's Majha region at an estimated cost of ~₹1,400 crore.
• Project originally conceived nearly 100 years ago during the colonial era; revived in June 2026 by MoS Railways Sh. Ravneet Singh Bittu.
• Connects Qadian (Gurdaspur district) with Beas (Amritsar district), plugging a long-standing gap in Punjab's rail map.
• Relevance for UPSC: infrastructure-led regional development, railway gauge policy, federal cooperation, border-area connectivity, and tourism (Qadian is the historic seat of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community).