Indore (Madhya Pradesh): There’s good news for rail projects linked to the city. Five prominent railway projects have got an outlay of a whopping amount of Rs 2296 crore. In the last budget, this amount was about Rs 1353 crore.
Of this massive allocation, the highest amount of Rs 700 crore outlay has been made for the Indore-Khandwa gauge conversion project, followed by Rs 514 crore for the Indore-Budhani and Rs 440 crore for the Indore-Dahod new rail line projects.
Following a press conference in New Delhi, the Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnav, on Friday presented the details. For the gauge conversion of the Mhow-Sanawad section of the Indore-Khandwa line, an allocation of Rs 700 crore has been made. In the last budget, Rs 888 crore was allocated to this project.
The second highest allocation of funds was made to the Indore-Budhani new rail line project, which is a shorter route to reach Jabalpur from the city. An amount of Rs 514 crore was allocated.
The Dhar-Chhota Udaipur railway project, which is an ancillary project of the Indore-Dahod project also received an outlay of Rs 355 crore.
The 79-km-long Indore-Dewas doubling project has received an outlay of Rs 185 crore, while in the last budget allocation of Rs 200 crore was allotted. This project is expected to be completed this year.
Indore-Manmad project: FROM TOKEN MONEY OF Rs 1000 to Rs 102 crore
The ambitious Indore-Manmad new line which was allocated Rs 1,000 as a shagun last year, this year received a total Rs 102 crore outlay. Experts said the token amount had been allocated in the last budget as the projects were still under development stage in partnership with concerned state governments.
Also, Rs 2 crore was allocated for the survey of Mhow-Nardhana section and Rs 100 crore for construction of the on-going Nardana-Dhule section. It may be noted that PM Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the project.
After the Railway Ministry’s booster dose, it needs to be seen how the ministry’s officials implement in letter-and-spirit the work on ground zero to realise the potential of the Budget presented in the Amrit Kal year.
-Nagesh Namjoshi, former member of Passenger Amenities Committee of Railway Board
Grateful to PM Modi and Rly min Ashwini Vaishnav for making such a whopping outlay of funds to railway projects linked to the city. We will try to stick to the deadlines in order to give time-bound and upgraded services and connectivity to commuters
-Shankar Lalwani, MP
Table
No. Project outlay 2023-24 Outlay 2022-23
1. Indore-Khandwa GC Rs 700cr Rs 888cr
2. Indore-Dahod New line Rs 440cr Rs 265cr
3. Indore-Ujjain doubling Rs 185cr Rs 200cr
4. Indore-Manmad Rs 102cr Rs 1000*
5. Indore-Budhani Rs 514cr Rs 1000*
*Note just Rs 1000 each were allocated to Indore Manmad and Indore Budhani new rail line projects in the last Railway Budget as token money before the project was kick-started.
