The discrimination in the railway sector is more blatant and visible and the state has been getting a raw deal in every Budget, the minister said.
KTR pointed out that the current NDA government has not grounded a single new railway line in Telangana in the past eight years. (South First)
Telangana Minister for IT, Industries, and Municipal Administration KT Rama Rao has written to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, requesting adequate budgetary allocations for railway projects in the state.
KTR stated that the Union government has been ignoring repeated pleas from Telangana to sanction funds for several important ongoing and proposed projects in the state.
“The discrimination in the railway sector is more blatant and visible, and the state has been getting a raw deal in every Budget presented by the NDA government,” KTR said in the letter.
KTR highlighted the Thirteenth Schedule of the AP State Reorganisation Act, which states that “The Indian Railways shall, within six months from the appointed day, examine the feasibility of establishing a Rail Coach Factory in the successor State of Telangana and improve rail connectivity in the State and take an expeditious decision thereon”.
“However, despite repeated appeals from the state government, the Union government has neither initiated any steps to establish a rail coach factory in Kazipet nor granted any new major infrastructure project to improve rail connectivity in the state,” KTR noted.
He further stated that the state’s economy is consistently performing better than that of several other states. From food grain production to IT exports, Telangana is growing at breakneck speed, he said in the letter.
The state is also adding logistics infrastructure to complement the growth in primary and secondary sectors of the economy, he pointed out.
“Telangana contributes substantially to the revenues of South Central Railway (both freight and passenger). The state is a crucial link between north and south India, and is home to the most important railway junctions — Secunderabad and Kazipet — in our country,” KTR wrote.
He stated, “Being a landlocked state, Telangana is heavily dependent on railway infrastructure for transportation of goods and passengers. The addition of new railway infrastructure will be a big boost to the state’s growth story.”
“But the Union government is found wanting when it comes to extending necessary assistance to develop new transport infrastructure in Telangana,” KTR noted.
The minister said that it is appalling to note that in the past eight years, just a little over 100 km of railway track has been laid in Telangana.
“It is disheartening to note that in the past eight years, South Central Railway has launched only one new train from the capital city — Lingampalli-Vijayawada InterCity Express,” KTR said.
The state has a paltry three percent of the total railway lines in our country, out of which about 57 percent are single-lane, he stated. This lack of critical infrastructure is depriving Telangana of new trains.
KTR pointed out that the current NDA government has not constructed a single new railway line in Telangana in the past eight years. Even the progress of joint venture railway projects, taken up with the state government, could be faster.
While the Union government has spent just ₹1,100 crore on ongoing railway projects in the state, the state government has spent ₹1,904 crore as its share.
“This clearly shows the lack of interest of the Union government in developing railway infrastructure in Telangana. Several projects, which were cleared by earlier governments, have been shelved by the current Union government. Many other projects, for which survey reports have been submitted long back, have also not moved an inch,” KTR said.
KTR listed the high-priority projects whose proposals had been submitted years ago to the Railway Board and asked for early sanction.
• Updation of Gadwal – Macherla (184.20 km)
• Moula Ali – Bhongir (38 km)
• Moula Ali – Ghatkesar (12.8 km)
• Ghatkesar – Bhongir (25.2 km)
• Kachiguda – Chityal (87 km)
• Gadchandur – Adilabad (70.19 km)
• Krishna – Vikarabad (121.7 km)
• Jaggayapeta – Miryalaguda (36.70 km)
• Pagidipalli – Shankarpally (110 km)
• Patancheru – Adilabad (316.77 km)
• Pandurangapuram – Bhadrachalam town (13 km)
• Secunderabad – Zahirabad (63.5 km)
• Vishnupuram – Vinukonda (66 km)
• Karimnagar – Hasanparthi (62 km)
• Updating survey between Kothagudem – Kothapalli (81.57 km)
• Mahbubnagar – Gooty (213.41 km)
• Secunderabad – Madikhed – Adilabad (383.01 km)
• Third line between Secunderabad – Kazipet (85.48 km)
• Ghanpur – Suryapet via Palakurthi (91.7 km)
• Bodhan – Latur Road (134.55 km)
• Bypass line at Vikarabad (2.6 km)
• Yawatmal – Adilabad via Ghantigi (125.5 a km)
• Updation of new line between Adilabad – Armoor (136 km)
• Electrification between Guntur – Bibinagar (239 km)
• Electrification between Akola – Dhone (620.27 km)
He also mentioned that some important railway lines passing through Telangana, which were shelved, citing incorrect reasons. He requested sanction for those lines:
• Karimnagar – Manakondur – Huzurabad – Kazipet (61.80 km)
• Mancherial – Adilabad via Utnoor (160.58 km)
• Manuguru – Ramagundam via Bhoopalapalli (211 km)
• Nandyala – Jadcherla (182.4 km)
• Koyagudam Mines – Tadikalpudi (19 km)
• Bhadrachalam Road – Visakhapatnam (277 km)
• Hyderabad – Srisailam up to Acchampet (171 km)
• Siddipet – Akkanapet (50 km)
• Patancheru – Sangareddy (89.10 km)
• Bypass line at Pagidipalli (10.20 km)
KTR added that earlier, the South Central Railways used to convene a meeting of all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs from the region and accept proposals for new railway projects and trains.
Strangely, even that convention has been done away with this year, he noted in his letter.
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