Joint venture new mechanism to deprive states, says government

Claiming that it will protest against the proposal, state minister Subrata Mukherjee said: “How much revenue does a state earn? Everything goes to the Centre. We only get the sales tax. This is a bad policy.”

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“Now, the Centre will say that if the state wants a new rail track, it has to pay through a JV. If a debt-ridden state like Bengal cannot afford to share, the project will not come up. This is another burden imposed on us,” he added.

In a statement issued by the party on Thursday, it said: “Bengal is already deprived. Now, extra burden has been imposed on the state through state-Centre JVs. We will protest against this Budget.”

When contacted, Eastern Railway General Manager R K Gupta said while some JV projects are currently in progress between the Jharkhand government and the Railways, the ministry is still awaiting response from the Bengal government for entering similar agreements in the eastern zone.

“We are executing track-doubling projects in Jharkhand… The state has entered into a joint venture agreement with the Railways on a 50:50 basis. Several such projects can come up in Bengal too. These include installation and expansion of tracks. We have written to the Bengal government. But we are yet to get a positive response,” said Gupta.

He added that among the 400 railway terminals in West Bengal, 26 will be made Wi-Fi enabled this financial year.

“The Eastern Railways has got two of 30 priority projects. Bengal will also get a high-speed train between Kolkata and Delhi,” said the official. At present, 42 projects to install and 29 to expand tracks are on in the eastern zone.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Railways has suffered a number of ‘rail roko’ programmes this financial year.

Though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has stressed upon “no agitation that will inconvenience people”, it has recorded 227 instances of disruption on the tracks.

“We have tried to continue provide service without disruption, but have failed at times. Several important political functionaries, people occupying high positions and holding constitutional posts too have sat on the tracks and disrupted service,” said Gupta.

Prabhu grants Kolkata metro Rs 540 crore

The Railway Budget on Thursday allocated Rs 580 crore to the Kolkata Metro Rail against Rs 540 crore last financial year. Kolkata Metro Rail General Manager Radhey Shyam said: “It has been a good Budget. We have received allocation according to our expectations.”

While the two projects of Noapara-Dum Dum-Tollygunge-Garia and Dum Dum Baranagar have received Rs 50 crore, Noapara-Dum Dum-Airport Metro project has been allotted Rs 140 crore. The Joka-BBD Bag project has bagged Rs 70 crore. Moreover, Rs 240 crore has been sanctioned for the Dum Dum-Airport-New Garia Metro and Rs 80 crore for the Baranagar-Barrackpore via Dakshineswar project.