Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday expressed dismay over the reported reduction in fund allocation for Southern Railway projects. He urged the Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, to ensure the allocation of adequate funds earmarked for new lines, doubling and customer amenities projects in Tamil Nadu.
“We are disappointed that the allocation of funds for the Southern Railways under certain Heads of Accounts in the Regular Budget for Indian Railways for the financial year 2024-2025, are much lesser when compared to the allocations in the Interim Budget of the same year. The drastic reduction in allocation of funds by ₹674.8 crore for new line projects will severely affect the progress of many important ongoing projects in Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said in a letter to the minister.
The letter said the new line works include Sriperumbudur—Guduvanchery with spurs to Irunkattukottai—Avadi—Sriperambudur and Chennai –Cuddalore—Mamallapuram.
Similarly, the reduction in the allocation of funds for doubling projects by ₹285.64 crore will definitely slow down the much-needed doubling projects in our State. The letter said some of the doubling projects listed by the Chief Minister include Villupuram-Dindigul and Chennai Beach-Chennai Egmore.
“I would also like to highlight the important issues pending with Southern Railways for Chennai and its surrounding areas. Specifically, the railway works related to Kilambakkam bus terminus, EMU services and MRTS lines need to be expedited without any further delay,” the letter said.
Chief Minister Stalin said these vital projects should not be delayed further due to a shortage of funds.
Ashwini Vaishnaw’s response
In a post on X, Railway Minister Vaishnaw replied to Stalin’s letter and said the NDA government had allocated a record ₹6,362 crore for developing railways in Tamil Nadu.
This amount is more than seven times the average allocation made during the UPA era (only ₹879 Crore per year).
In our constitutional structure, land is a state subject. Projects can be executed speedily if only your government supports us in land acquisition.
Only 807 Ha of land has been acquired so far against the requirement of 2,749 Ha of land.
“We seek your intervention in land acquisition. From our side, we promise that if you take one step, we will take two steps for the development of railways in Tamil Nadu,” the minister said.