Intend to connect all state capitals of North East with Indian Railways: Govt tells Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Railways is aiming at connecting all state capitals of North East by a train network, government told Rajya Sabha on Friday. “Our intention is to connect all state capitals of the North-East region with the Indian Railways,” Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said in Rajya Sabha during Question Hour. [caption id=“attachment_2152379” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] He, however, he did not give any time-line for achieving the proposed target. Sinha said projects worth Rs 47,909 crore have been taken up in Assam and North-East region to improve Railway infrastructure. “In addition, two doubling projects having a total length of 278 km at a cost of Rs 2,777 crore have been included in the Budget 2015-16,” he said. An all-time high outlay of Rs 5,215 crore has been allocated in 2014-15 and a provision of Rs 5,338 crore has been made in the Budget for next fiscal. “However, completion of these projects depends on many factors such as land acquisition, forest clearance, law and order situation, etc which is beyond the control of Railways,” he adedd. To a separate question, Sinha said Railways have taken up 29 major projects at an anticipated cost of Rs 16,361 crore in Jharkhand since the creation of the state in November, 2000. An expenditure of Rs 1,013 crore has been incurred on these projects till March, 2014, an outlay of Rs 337 crore have been provided in 2014-15 and a provision of Rs 1,113 crore has been made in the Railways Budget for 2015-16. PTI