The long-pending suburban rail project for Karnataka capital, Bengaluru city is being studied by the Centre. The Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi recently said in Rajya Sabha that the Bengaluru suburban rail project, worth Rs 17,000 crore will get a nod only when the Centre will get the details about the land from the state government of Karnataka. While responding to a query during the Question Hour in the parliament, the minister said that the suburban rail project has been pending due to non-cooperation from the previous Congress-JDS led state government, according to a PTI report.
Angadi further said that the project is currently being discussed with the state government and officials. As soon as the Centre get details about the land and funds from the Karnataka government, they will take it up, the minister added.
According to the report, the B S Yediyurappa government in the state of Karnataka has submitted a revised detailed project report (DPR). The revised DPR proposes nearly 55 odd suburban railway stations across the network, covering a distance of around 150 kilometres. The Karnataka government has proposed the Centre to execute the development work of the project through the Rail lnfrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (K-RIDE). Also, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) has to be formed in order to implement the suburban rail project.
Meanwhile, while replying to another query on the development of Indian Railways, Angadi said that Modi government has lined up an investment of over Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the next ten years. The minister further said that institutional finance has already been arranged and also, the development work for the railway projects is progressing well wherever the states have provided the required land. Moreover, on payment of interest on borrowings, the minister claimed that the allocation for the national transporter has been much higher than the previous government. Also, for the development of Indian Railways, the revenues will improve and there will not be any shortage of funds, he added.
