Railway Minister blames TS govt for delay in MMTS phase 2 project

HYDERABAD: The Centre has blamed the State government for delay in completion of MMTS phase-2 project in Hyderabad and also lack of progress in ITIR project.In reply to questions in the Rajya Sabha by Dharmapuri Srinivas and others, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that the two industrial corridors proposed by the State government were under consideration by the Central government.To a question by B Lingaiah Yadav, Piyush Goyal said that the Centre has sanctioned works for extension of MMTS up to Bhongir, and not up to  Shadnagar, he said.

The Union Minister said a 101.05 km length MMTS phase-2 was sanctioned in 2012-13 at an estimated cost of Rs 816.55 crore, of which, the State government’s share was Rs 544.37 crore. The State government has so far deposited Rs 129.09 crore. But, the Railways had already spent Rs 556.04 crore, which is more than its share. “The State government needs to deposit its share of cost for early completion of the project,” he said.

INDUSTRIAL CORRIDORS:  Meanwhile replying to another question,  Goyal said that the Telangana government submitted a proposal for setting up Hyderabad-Warangal and Hyderabad-Nagpur industrial corridors.

“It was considered by the National Industrial Corridor Development & Implementation Trust (NICDIT) and it was decided that the Telangana government would carry out a feasibility study and identify available land for the project. Subsequently, feasibility report was submitted in October last. A meeting was held in January by the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Ltd. (DMICDC) and Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd. (TSIIC) wherein it was decided that TSIIC would submit a revised proposal in accordance with the institutional and financial structure as approved by the Centre for development of industrial corridor projects,’’ the Union Minister said.

ITIR: Meanwhile, to another question, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Sanjay Dhotre said that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) in Hyderabad at a cost of Rs 3,275 crore in November 2013.

“The progress with regard to ITIR was reviewed during a meeting held at MeitY in January 2017 with representatives from the Union ministries concerned and also Telangana government officials. The State government was asked to submit requisite information to the Ministries of Railways and Road, Transport and Highways. Response from the Telangana government is still awaited,” Dhotre said.