Union minister of railways Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Parliament on Friday that the tentative cost of the Yamunanagar-Karnal railway line in Haryana will be ₹1,173.24 crore and the land for the project is being provided free of cost by the state government.
Vaishnaw was replying to a question by Sushil Kumar Gupta, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP from Delhi.
Gupta, who is the party’s Haryana in-charge, had asked “Whether it is a fact that even five years after the announcement of plans to link Karnal-Yamunanagar via railway line, Haryana is still waiting for a nod from the railways”, and if any fresh report has been submitted by the state or not.
Speaking to HT, Gupta said the minister has given a partial reply to the question. “I had specifically asked if a nod has been given or not, which is not clear from the reply. The House was not in order, or I would have asked the minister about these facts,” Gupta added.
The information comes almost a month after CM Manohar Lal Khattar while presenting the Budget for the financial year 2023-24 on February 23, had said, “I also hope to receive the approval of the Union ministry of railways for the Karnal-Yamunanagar railway line, and work on the project will be started immediately.”
{{/usCountry}}The information comes almost a month after CM Manohar Lal Khattar while presenting the Budget for the financial year 2023-24 on February 23, had said, “I also hope to receive the approval of the Union ministry of railways for the Karnal-Yamunanagar railway line, and work on the project will be started immediately.”
{{/usCountry}}The project has been hanging fire for the last five years since it was first mentioned by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in 2019. In February 2020, a detailed project report prepared by Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (HRIDC) was submitted to the railways for approval. The 61-km long project sought to connect “unserved” regions like Indri, Ladwa and Radaur. However, in 2021, Vaishnaw informed the parliament that the project was “financially unviable and not operationally justified.”
HT, in its report “Five years on Haryana awaits nod for Yamunanagar-Karnal rail line”, two days after the state budget was presented highlighted how the project has been delayed.
The HRIDC sent a fresh report to the ministry last year, and it has been taken up by the Union ministry now. Vaishnaw also quoted the fact in his reply.
“HRIDC has submitted a proposal regarding the grant of in-principle approval for pre-investment activities. The ministry of railways has asked HRIDC to re-submit the modified proposal incorporating certain facilities for further examination of the proposal,” Vaishnaw said in his reply.
Rajesh Agarwal, managing director, HRIDC, said, “We have asked for an in-principle approval so that all the observations could be addressed while preparing the DPR. But as the reply mentions that the ministry has asked for a modified proposal, we have not received any communication yet.”