Tamil Nadu   

Coimbatore-Dindigul gauge conversion may be included in railway budget

S. Vydhianathan

The project is awaiting approval from the Railway Board

CHENNAI: Conversion of the 168-km long Coimbatore-Dindigul metre gauge section will soon become a reality. In all probability it will be included in the coming railway budget.

The Central Planning Commission has already cleared the proposal and it is now before the expanded Railway Board for approval. Once the Board approves, it will be included in the budget. The total cost of the project will be about Rs. 650 crore, according to Minister of State for Railways R. Velu.

Plan panel view

Talking to The Hindu , he said initially, the Planning Commission was against giving clearance to the project, stating that the rate of return (ROR) would be 6.5 per cent, well below the minimum requirement of 15 per cent. But he took the issue with the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman M.S. Ahluwalia and explained to him that the ROR would substantially increase once the line was converted.

As the doubling work between Madurai and Dindigul was in progress by converting the existing MG line, Dindigul-Coimbatore MG line would become an island MG section. This, in turn, would lead to operational problems for Southern Railway.

Port connectivity

He said the converted line would provide port connectivity between Tuticorin and Mangalore, which was one of the main objectives of the Indian Railways. A direct BG line between Coimbatore and Tuticorin would boost container traffic from inland depots at Coimbatore and Tirupur and also freight traffic.

At present containers from Coimbatore and Tirupur were being transported by road to Tuticorin port. If converted, the line would provide a direct BG link to Tuticorin from the container depots. Moreover, it would provide a direct BG link between southern and western districts of Tamil Nadu. The conversion would also put Palani, which attracted thousands of pilgrims from Kerala, in the BG map.

All these factors were considered by the Planning Commission before clearing the proposal, the Minister added.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Jayalalithaa inaugurates 9 development projects
Move to replace Vasan as TNCC chief
Follow Vigilance Commission tender norms: P. Shankar
EC wants transfer fiat adhered to before polls
Exporters moot project to discharge effluents into sea
Coimbatore-Dindigul gauge conversion may be included in railway budget
Briefly

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu