Centre examining Bengaluru suburban rail project

The Centre is studying the long- pending Rs 17,000 crore suburban rail project for Bengaluru city and will give a nod after getting details about land from the Karnataka government, Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Responding during the Question Hour, Angadi said the project has been pending due to non-cooperation from the previous Congress-JDS led state government.

"Now, we are discussing with the state government and officials. We are studying the matter. As soon as we get details about land and funds from the state government, we will take it up," he added.

The B S Yediyurappa government in Karnataka has submitted a revised detailed project report (DPR) that proposes around 55-odd suburban railway stations covering a distance of about 150 km.

The state government has proposed to execute the work through the Rail lnfrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Ltd (K-RIDE) and a special purpose vehicle has to be formed to implement the project.

To another query on development of railways, the Minister said the government has lined up investment of over Rs 1.5 lakh crore for next ten years. Institutional finance has been arranged and the work is progressing well wherever the states have provided required land for the railway projects.

On payment of interest on borrowings, he said the allocation for railways has been much higher than the previous government. The revenues will improve and there will not be any shortage of funds for the development of railways.