Revanth wants Ashwini Vaishnaw’s nod for six railway projects in Telangana

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Friday.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has urged the Central Government to expedite and sanction six key railway infrastructure projects for Telangana, stating that improved rail connectivity is critical to achieving the State’s economic growth targets of a $1 trillion economy by 2034 and a $3 trillion economy by 2047.

In a representation given to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday, the Chief Minister reiterated the State’s earlier requests for railway infrastructure development and sought the Centre’s support for sanctioning the projects, including two new railway lines with 100% Railways funding.

The six proposals include the 130-km Vikarabad-Krishna railway line, Hyderabad-Amaravati-Bandar Port freight corridor, Hyderabad Regional Ring Rail, Dornakal-Gadwal railway line via Kalwakurthy, Kalwakurthy-Macherla railway line and four other railway projects for which surveys have been sanctioned.

On the Vikarabad-Krishna line, Mr. Revanth Reddy said that the Detailed Project Report (DPR), estimated at ₹2,750 crore, had been completed and sent to the Railway Board for approval.

The discovery of limestone deposits near Tekalkode village in Vikarabad district and the proposed development of the Kodangal-Tekalkode-Daultabad region as an industrial zone will help in the development of cement manufacturing and textile industries if a rail line is sanctioned. The State Government will bear the entire land acquisition cost.

The Hyderabad-Amaravati-Bandar Port freight corridor would help in 35% of the country’s pharmaceutical production worth over $7 billion to be annually exported.

On the Hyderabad Regional Ring Rail, the Chief Minister said the Railways had already taken up a survey and requested that the proposed line be aligned along the outer periphery of the 360-km Regional Ring Road (RRR). The State Government had notified the inclusion of the RRR alignment in the HMDA Master Plan on January 19.

The 126-km Kalwakurthy-Macherla railway line would improve connectivity to the Secunderabad, Guntur and Dhone railway sections and provide better access to Srisailam.

The Chief Minister further requested the Railway Ministry to expedite DPRs for four other proposed lines for which surveys had been sanctioned: Kacheguda-Jaggayyapeta (250 km), Patancheru-Adilabad (320 km), Bodhan-Latur (175 km) and Akkannapet bypass line (8 km).