India, Feb. 15 -- The Union Cabinet has approved a Rs.18,662-crore project to build a four-lane, access-controlled greenfield corridor between Gohpur and Numaligarh, featuring India's first combined road-and-rail tunnel beneath the Brahmaputra in Assam.

The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways confirming the project will be developed under the engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) model.

The new corridor is expected to sharply reduce distance and travel time while easing pressure on ecologically sensitive stretches.

The flagship element of the project is a road-cum-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra-India's first underwater tunnel of its kind and only the ...