The sagging factories and workshops of Batala, once a famous mercantile city, are on the path to revival following the Railways' decision to complete the 40-km Qadian-Batala track, nearly a century after work first began on it.
Direct connectivity to reduce distance by 90 km
At present, trains from Batala travel to Amritsar, halt there and then proceed towards Jalandhar and other parts of the country. Once the new track is completed, trains will bypass Amritsar and move directly to Jalandhar, reducing the distance by about 90 km. With shorter distances, freight charges will decline, leading to improved profit margins.
The project, estimated at Rs 1,400 crore, is being seen as a watershed moment for the 500-year-old city, where industrial growth has remained constrained for decades.
Industrialists welcome the development
Parmjit Singh Gill, president of the Batala Industrial Estate Factories' Association (BIEFA), said, "Lack of connectivity increases the cost price of a product. For small and medium factories, it can make the difference between profit and closure. For several decades, one of the most persistent complaints of the city's industrialists has been poor rail logistics."
Ravinder Handa, secretary of BIEFA, added, "Batala's railway connectivity is directly linked to the movement of goods. Currently, the slow pace at which goods move hampers revenue and profit generation. Once the track is completed, businesses will get a significant boost."
Historical efforts and recent follow-up
In 2010, then MP Partap Singh Bajwa leveraged his equation with then Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to push the project forward. However, it later ran into land acquisition hurdles and a lack of administrative urgency. Even earlier, in the 1990s, Batala resident and Rajya Sabha member Bhupinder Singh Mann had raised the demand for improved connectivity. Recently, his son, Gurpartap Singh Mann, a former PPSC member, met Ravneet Bittu, Minister of State for Railways, to follow up on the issue.
Impact on local industry
Prominent businessman Gopal Aggarwal said, "Over the years, numerous factories have either shut down or relocated to Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Freight and logistics costs are a major burden. Many units have closed, while others have survived by downsizing. All these challenges will recede once the track becomes operational."
