The Hindu : National : "Funds crunch delays rail projects"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 26, 2005

National

National

"Funds crunch delays rail projects"

Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR: The chairman of the Standing Committee on Railways, Basudev Acharya, on Wednesday lamented that over 200 projects were pending for lack of political will. A sum of Rs. 35,000 crores was required for their completion.

"Whenever a project is sanctioned, a target for completion should be fixed and funds released to ensure completion of those projects to avoid cost overrun,'' Mr. Acharya told a press conference here at the end of his two-day visit to review the progress of the East Coast Railways.

Expressing concern over the delay in implementation of projects due to non-release of funds in time and increase in cost, he said the cost of a particular project under the East Coast Railways, estimated at Rs. 355 crores when sanctioned in 1994, now increased to Rs. 1,000 crores.

"The way funds are being sanctioned for completion of various projects, some projects under the East Coast Railway were likely to take 15 to 50 years for completion,'' he said.

Private participation

About private participation, Mr. Acharya said the committee was against privatisation of any department of the Indian Railways.

It was also opposed to the idea of the Railways going in for joint ventures with any private company. Any company requiring a dedicated rail link could have one constructed on its own, he said.

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