Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa on Monday said the Centre had decided to accord priority to railway projects in States which have taken the lead in sharing project costs and release additional funds.
Speaking to mediapersons after reviewing the progress of railway projects in Karnataka with State government officials here, Mr. Muniyappa said he would seek additional funds for projects in Karnataka, which had taken the lead in sharing cost of railway projects.
He was responding to question on why the Ministry should not ask the State government to fund the entire project cost and recover its share either through revenue sharing or as loan repayment.
The suggestion was made when the Minister said about Rs. 13,000 crore was required to complete 32 ongoing projects for a distance of 2,070 km of the sanctioned 3,016 km.
Mr. Muniyappa said Karnataka had been cooperative in sharing costs and making land available. Of about 7,000 acres land required for 32 projects, the government had provided half of the land and was in the process of acquiring the rest. Land acquisition had been speeded up particularly after 2010 from which point about 2,800 acres of land was acquired, he said.
The Minister urged the State government to speed up land acquisition process for new lines, particularly between Bagalkot-Kudachi (142 km) and Davangere-Tumkur (199 km). Responding to a question on the rational of providing Izzat passes (concessional passes) to people, Mr. Muniyappa said the railways had to serve social obligation too. The Ministry was planning to provide railway connectivity to over 60 districts in the country, including Kodagu (Kushalanagar) in Karnataka.
The Ministry would go ahead with Kengeri-Chamarajanagar new line via Kanakapura, part of Bangalore-Satyamangalam new line, even though it cannot proceed beyond Chamarajanagar because of non-availability of clearance from Tamil Nadu Forest Department.
