New Delhi: In a historic session marking the first official gathering at the newly inaugurated Seva Teerth complex, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a massive suite of projects valued at ₹12,236 crore on Tuesday, February 24, 2026. This meeting signals a major shift in administrative focus toward modernizing India’s transit landscape while simultaneously addressing long-standing linguistic and cultural aspirations.
Chief among the announcements was the formal approval to rename the state of Kerala to “Keralam”. This decision respects a resolution passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly, which argued that the state has been traditionally and locally recognized as Keralam in the Malayalam language. The move follows a growing trend of aligning official state names with local cultural identities and will now proceed toward a formal constitutional amendment under Article 3.
The Cabinet also prioritized a significant overhaul of the nation’s railway network by greenlighting three major multitracking projects worth over ₹9,000 crore. These include the doubling of the 278-kilometer Gondia-Jabalpur line at a cost of ₹5,236 crore, which serves as a vital corridor for Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, the expansion of the Punarakh-Kiul section in Bihar and the Gamharia-Chandil section in Jharkhand will see the addition of third and fourth rail lines to alleviate congestion and boost freight capacity.
Aviation and urban mobility received substantial backing as well, with the approval of a ₹1,677 crore integrated terminal building at Srinagar International Airport. Designed to handle a significantly higher passenger volume of 10 million annually, the project is intended to enhance the tourism potential of Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, the Ahmedabad Metro Project Phase 2B will see a ₹1,067 crore extension from GIFT City to Shahpur, integrating the financial hub more deeply into the city’s transport network.
Beyond infrastructure, the session touched upon critical economic and sector-specific reforms. The Cabinet approved a ₹430 crore allocation for the Minimum Support Price of raw jute for the 2026-27 season and introduced a new policy framework for power sector reforms. By holding this inaugural session at Seva Teerth, the government has set a clear precedent for its “Shrine of Service” initiative, aiming to combine state-of-the-art facilities with citizen-centric governance.
