Tirunelveli District Chamber of Commerce and Industry has expressed disappointment over the Railway Budget presented in Parliament on Thursday as there was no hefty allocation to expedite the ongoing projects, especially track doubling between Chennai and Kanyakumari.
M.K.M. Syed Ahmed Kabir, secretary of Tirunelveli District Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the ongoing gauge conversion between Shencottah and Punalur had been going on at a snail’s pace for the past five years due to allocation of “trivial sum of money.”
“We were actually demanding a minimum allocation of Rs. 100 crore in this budget for expediting this long-pending project. However, only Rs. 85 crore has been allotted. Though this is not sufficient for expediting the Rs. 300-crore project, this allotment will at least move the work to some extent,” Mr. Kabir said.
He expressed disappointment that the government had not allotted any additional funds for expediting the track doubling between Chennai and Kanyakumari.
One-time allottment
“We anticipated one-time allotment of a hefty sum for completing this ambitious project as a special case. But we’ve been let down once again though this section is the most profitable sector for the Southern Railways,” Mr. Kabir said.
