JOIN USThe Ministry of Railways on Tuesday sanctioned Rs 233 crore to construct newly announced Gadag-Wadi broad gauge railway line in the State.
The project is coming up with 50:50 cost-sharing between Railways and the State government. The land for the project will be provided by the State free of cost, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters here.
The total cost of the project is Rs 1,922 crore and the Ministry released Rs 16 crore for the current financial year. Once the State government hands over substantial land to the Railways, work will start, he said.
Hubli-Guntakal
The new line will link main lines of Hubli-Guntakal and Mumbai-Chennai routes, passing through Gadag, Koppal, Raichur, Yadgir and Gulbarga districts via Kuknur, Yelburga, Kushtagi, Lingsugur, Gurgunta, Devapur, Shorapur, Shahpur and Biral Buzurg.
Speedy rail connection
Once the project completes, industries in these five districts of North Karnataka will also get convenient and speedy rail connection with ports on the Western Coast and also other parts of the country, enhancing the socio- economic development in the backward areas of Hyderabad-Karnataka, he said.
The new line will also help in faster movement of goods and passengers between Wadi and Hubli. With this line, distance between Gadag and Wadi stations will come down by about 147 km, in comparison to the existing routes via Guntakal and Hotgi.