Rail Min assures transfer of land to Bihar govt: Sushil Modi

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today said Railway minister Piyush Goyal has assured him of completing the formalities for transfer of 71 acres of Digha railway line land to the state government.

Sushil Modi, who also holds charge of Finance and Commercial Taxes departments, met the railway minister in Delhi yesterday and requested him to hand over the said land of R-block Digha rail line to the state government which would construct road on it for smooth plying of vehicles, a release said.

The state government is ready to give Rs 221 crore for a six km long 150 years old track which had 30 meters of land in width of both sides of track, he said adding that the state government has got the re-evaluation of the land done.

Earlier, Railways had fixed Rs 896 crore as the market value of the 71 acres of land but the NDA government at the Centre accepted the state government's request for re-evaluation, he said.

The re-evaluated value of the land is Rs 221 crore.

Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani had on April 13 said in Patna that the Railway board has given its in-principle approval for handing over the R-block Digha rail line to the state government for construction of roads.

The road construction on the said land of rail track would not only provide seamless connectivity between north and south Patna but would also reduce the distance between R block and Digha by 2 km, he said.