Pending railway projects to be fast-tracked, says Karnataka minister

Karnataka infrastructure development minister V Somanna on Wednesday said that the state will fast-track railway projects that are languishing since 2007, in a time-bound manner.

He said, the cost of most of these projects have almost doubled “Since 2007, nine railway projects that were launched have not been completed…..after discussion, as the cost has also gone up, putting a burden on both state and central government, we have decided to fast-track these projects. Within 15-20 days, land acquisition and other hurdles will be cleared in a time bound manner,” Somanna said.

“The state government is in talks with Indian Railways authorities. They were being laggard. We have sent across whatever message we had to and work will speed up from tomorrow,” he added.

The minister on Wednesday reviewed the infrastructure development department and held discussions with railway officials regarding the languishing projects.

Of the nine railway projects cleared since 2007, at least four have seen their total cost go up.