New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday that the eastern region comprising Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal will become the engines of growth for achieving a 'Viksit Bharat' in the future.

She said that the next generation reforms that the government was implementing would propel these states to the forefront of economic development.

While the government would continue with its emphasis on developing the northeastern region, the five eastern states would be playing a major role in accelerating the country’s economic growth, she added.

The Finance Minister said that the setting up of three new major railway economic corridors would benefit this region.

The corridors include an energy, mineral and cement corridor, a port connectivity corridor and a high traffic density corridor.

The corridors would be linked to multi-modal connectivity.

The Finance Minister said that the decongestion of high traffic corridors will result in improving operations, which in turn would "result in safety and higher travel speeds for passengers".

She also said that 40,000 railway coaches would be upgraded to Vande Bharat standards for the comfort of passengers.

Sitharaman said that the government was working sincerely to improve the life of the people and that is why Amrit Kaal had also become Kartavya Kaal.