Karnataka Minister M B Patil.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Infrastructure Development Minister M B Patil has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Ashwini Vaishnaw and V Somanna, urging them to announce a high-speed rail (bullet train) corridor between Bengaluru and Mumbai.
He said the project would bring significant benefits to both Karnataka and Maharashtra.
In the letter, dated February 3, Patil stated that the Mumbai–Pune high-speed rail corridor already announced in the union budget could be extended up to Bengaluru.
He welcomed the budget announcements of high-speed rail corridors between Bengaluru-Hyderabad and Bengaluru-Chennai but pointed out that both routes would run for only about 100 km within Karnataka, limiting the benefits to the state.
Patil explained that a high-speed rail link between Bengaluru and Pune would bring substantial benefits to central and northern Karnataka, as well as districts such as Sangli and Kolhapur in western Maharashtra. Such a project would transform the economic and industrial landscape of Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi, Davangere, Tumakuru and other cities, he explained.
Patil urged that a comprehensive feasibility study be undertaken for a high-speed rail project between Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Separately, Patil welcomed union ministers Pralhad Joshi and H D Kumaraswamy for taking up the issue with Vaishnaw.
"There is no politics involved in this. The initiative should not remain limited to discussions alone, but must be taken to its logical conclusion," he told reporters on Thursday. "There must be an efficient and world-class connectivity system between Bengaluru and Mumbai."