Karnataka CM Yediyurappa assures Bengaluru suburban project work will start soon

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on February 2, said the money for suburban railway project will be provided in the State budget and the same is expected to be completed in three years. Speaking to ANI on the suburban railway project, the Chief Minister said,

"We are going to provide money in the Budget. We want to complete it in three years. We will start work as early as possible." On January 15, Yadiyurappa had asserted that he will present the State budget on February 5. 

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Union Minister Piyush Goyal last year in February discussed the project with then Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

The Union Minister had said, "Bengaluru suburban railway project had come to a stalemate for long. It was under discussion for about 20 years. I ordered a feasibility study and got its report in 30 days. We included this project in the budget of 2018-19, subject to the approval of the state government. The project will be costing nearly 20,000 crores." Goyal had even announced that thousand crores worth of land will be given to the city for a token amount.

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Finance Minister's announcement in union budget

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting Union Budget 2020-21 on Saturday proposed a 148-km Bengaluru suburban transport project at a cost of Rs 18,600 crore, which would have fare like the metro model. The Centre would provide 20% of equity and facilitate external assistance of up to 60% of the project cost.

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FM Sitharaman stated that in the next few years as many as 150 private trains will be running on the Indian Railways network via the PPP model and that the RFQ invite has already been issued. She also said that in the coming years more Tejas Express-style trains will be introduced on key tourist routes.

In her budget speech, Sitharamam said the Indian Railways will set up a "Kisan Rail" through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode with refrigerated coaches for transportation of perishable goods to assist farmers.

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