Railway Budget: Boost to AP logistics sector

Hyderabad: Though there is a marginal reduction in the outlay for Andhra Pradesh in the Railway Budget, two major decisions would help propel the growth of the logistics sector in the State. Mr Lalu Prasad, Railway Minister, has sanctioned the Rs 1,000-crore new railway line connecting Kadapa-Bangalore, covering a stretch of 255 km.

The other decision is to develop the Secunderabad railway station into a world-class one for an estimated Rs 4,000 crore. The project will be taken up in a public-private partnership model.

It, however, would take some time to take off. “We need to evolve a model for such projects,” Mr H.K. Padhee, General Manager of SCR, said.

Big boost:

The Rs 1,000-crore railway line that would connect the cement manufacturing hub near Kadapa to Bangalore would give a big boost to the freight movement from the region. A survey was conducted last year to study the feasibility. “Work will begin this year. We hope to complete the project in the next few years,” he said.

The other major allotments for the State included introduction of the Garib Rath Express between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam, and the Machilipatnam-Bangalore Express and Hyderabad-Usmanabad Express (all tri-weeklies). The Tirupati-Nizamabad Krishna Express would be extended to Adilabad.

Outlay:

The budget outlay for the zone was put at Rs 1,564 crore down from Rs 1,600 crore. Mr Padhee, however, pointed out that availability of funds shouldn’t be a problem. “We can get more funds in the supplementary budgets,” he said.

The outlay included allocation of Rs 141.08 crore (Rs 117 crore) for new lines and Rs 128 crore for gauge conversion. The SCR would take up conversion work of the last remaining stretch of 224 km (Pakala-Madanapalle-Dharmavaram) from metre gauge to broad gauge.