Centre to launch suburban rail project on priority: DVS

Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Monday said the Centre would take up the proposed suburban rail project in Bengaluru on priority and urged Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to extend his cooperation to implement the long-pending project.

“We are taking it (the project) up on priority. We expect the chief minister to extend full cooperation in this regard, he told reporters to a query why the project has failed to take off.

Gowda, who visited the BJP office first time after assuming charge as the Union Minister, said the state government is yet to respond to the Railways’ proposal for 50:50 cost sharing of the Rs 17,500 crore project.

Earlier, the Railways was supposed to bear only 20% of the cost. It was increased to 50% to ease the burden on the state. Still, there has been no response from the state, he said.

On the proposed Mekedatu project, the Union minister said the state government had failed to prepare a detailed project report.

“When I met the chief minister sometime last year, I told him to prepare the report and send it to the Centre. We will take it up in Delhi. But nothing was done... It’s not fair to simply blame the Centre for everything,” he added.

He said the state government had been dragging its feet on the Centre’s plan to set up fertiliser factories in Karnataka.

Liaison office in Delhi

Gowda said all four Union ministers from Karnataka have decided to soon open an office in Delhi to help people get their work done in the Union government. The office will be opened in a fortnight’s time, he added.