Rail budget: Bengal, Bihar top beneficiaries, says Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda

In a sharp rebuttal to the Opposition’s criticism about lack of allocation to various states in the Rail budget, Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda said West Bengal and Bihar were among the highest beneficiaries of the budget.

In his reply in the Lok Sabha, Gowda, in a combative mode, brought out a list showing that West Bengal had got an allocation of Rs 3,280 crore this budget, the highest among states. The information silenced MPs from the TMC as Gowda went on to state that Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar come next.

“The focus will be on completion of the ongoing projects,” Gowda said.
Responding to the criticism about the budget relying on Public-Private-Partnership mode to fund projects, Gowda said that Rs 15,000 crore worth investments proposals have been received so far.