Karnataka gets higher allocation

Despite financial constraints, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday tried his best to give a bounty to Karnataka by allocating Rs 2,799 crore for new and ongoing projects. These include surveys of four new line surveys and construction of nine new lines.

Prabhu said the allocation for the state this year was 19% more than last year’s allocation of Rs 2,496 crore.

The minister, who announced the development of the suburban railway network for Bengaluru, said it would be taken up in partnership with the Karnataka government.

The Minister announced the survey for four new lines and plans to begin construction on nine long-pending lines including Dharwad-Belagavi, Talaguppa-Honnavar and Nanjangud-Nilambur.

However, new lines will be taken up with funding from external budgetary resources which includes the Karnataka government share, the minister said.

10 overbridges
The minister also said 10 railway overbridges will be constructed at different parts of the state while electrification works will be taken up for the Miraj-Londa line at a cost of Rs 208 crore.

 BJP state unit president Pralhad Joshi hailed the budget saying it will help further expand the railway network in Karnataka while Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge said the state received a raw deal in the budget.

“Despite the minister announcing the building of nine new railway lines in Karnataka, implementing these projects would be a tough task as railways have to depend on external sources for funding,” Kharge said.



New line surveys
Kalaburagi-Latur
Lokapur (Bagalkot dist)-Dharwad via Ramdurg,
Savadatti
Dharwad-Belagavi
Bidar-Bodan (Telangana)

Doubling
Nethravathi-Mangaluru
Birur-Shivamogga
n Sakleshpur-Subramanya Road

new line CONSTRUCTION
Nanjangud-Nilambur
Mysuru-Kushalnagar
Talaguppa-Siddapur
Bangarpet-Mulbagal
Talaguppa-Honnavar
Dharwad-Belagavi

(after survey)
Other projects
Electrification of Miraj-Londa line at a cost of Rs 208 crore
Suburban train for Bengaluru city