BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday reviewed nine new railway projects which have been taken up on 50:50 cost-sharing ratio with the Government of India.
They also decided to constitute a committee of senior officials of the railways and Karnataka government for the speedy implementation of ongoing rail projects in the state with better coordination and within the stipulated time.
The Chief Minister instructed officials concerned to give priority to the acquisition of land required for railway projects. “Land acquisition must be hastened for those projects which are in great demand and there should be urgency in its completion”, the CM said.
The officials said nine rail projects required 15,000 acres and the acquisition process has been completed for 9,000 acres. Another 6,000 acres of land need to be acquired.
The CM felt that it is possible for time-bound completion of all the pending rail projects if both Railways and state government release their share of money in time. “Speedy implementation of railway projects is a priority for which the officials of state government and railways must work with better coordination”, he said.
Both Bommai and Vaishnav reviewed the progress of Gadag-Wadi, Rayadurg-Tumkur, Ginigera-Raichur, Tumakuru-Chitradurga-Davangere, Bagalkot-Kudachi, Kadur-Chikkamagalur-Belur, Hassan-Belur, Shivamogga, Ranebennur, Marikuppam-Kuppam, Belagavi-Dharwad and other new railway line projects, the Railway Minister said.
The duo also discussed the Bengaluru Suburban Railway line and its electrification. The Union Minister asked KPTCL to take up the necessary works following the electrification of this railway line as the Railways plan to operate the Vande Bharat Express Train on the Hubballi-Bengaluru line by March 2023.
Union Coal, Mining and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, MP S Muniswamy, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) and Development Commissioner I S N Prasad, Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary N Manjunatha Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary (Infrastructure development) Gaurav Gupta and South Western Railway General Manager Sanjiv Kishore and others were present. (ANI)