No funds vs no land: Karnataka-Centre feud over limping railway projects

Union Budget day is nearing, and Karnataka continues to be upset with the Narendra Modi government.

The state feels the Centre is treating it shabbily vis-à-vis railway development, with several ongoing projects limping and the Centre not doling out enough money to expand the rail network.

While the Railway Ministry is accusing Karnataka of not cooperating in acquiring land, the Karnataka government blames meagre budgetary allocation over the past decade for whatever has gone wrong.

Affected projects

Officials in Bengaluru say as many as 13 railway projects in Karnataka have been progressing at a snail’s pace over the years in the Hubballi, Bengaluru and Mysuru divisions of South-Eastern Railway.

The affected projects include the railway lines of Gadag (Talakal)-Wadi, Tumkur-Davangere (through Chitradurga), Tumakuru-Rayadurga (through Kalyandurg), Bagalkot-Kudachi, Shivamogga-Shikaripura-Ranebennur, Belgaum-Dharwad (through Kittur), Marikuppam-Kuppam, Kaduru-Chikkamagaluru-Hassan, Masalaguru-Palasamudram, Hassan-Bengaluru (through Shravanabelagola), Hubballi-Ankola, Munirabad-Mehaboobnagar and Gadag-Yalavig.

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Some of these have been lying incomplete for over two decades. The conflict between the Centre and Karnataka seems to be a major hurdle in their completion.

Lack of coordination

Sources in the South-Eastern Railway zone say the lack of coordination between the state and Railway authorities, and delays in land acquisition, are behind the failure to complete these projects.

“With help from the state government, the South-Eastern Railway will complete the project with the funds earmarked,” Manjunatha Kanamadi, the zonal railway spokesman, told The Federal.

With a hastening of land acquisition, work on Gadag-Wadi is progressing fast and a 45.5 km stretch has already been completed. "Land acquisition has to be completed in Raichur, Yadagiri and Kalaburagi districts," said Kanamadi.

"There is an urgent need to depute or appoint a Nodal Officer of IAS rank to complete the land acquisition. With the failure of the Karnataka government in doing so, projects will remain pending, whatever stage it is in now," he added.

Transfer of lines

Apart from the Union government's errors of omission, there are those of commission, too, says Karnataka.

The people of the Kalyana Karnataka region are upset with the Railways’ move to transfer the Raichur and Yadgir railway lines to the newly formed South Coast Railway (SCoR), based in Visakhapatnam. Until recently, they were under the Guntakal division.

Residents of the Kalyana Karnataka region had been seeking a Kalaburagi railway division for 40 years, into which the Raichur and Yadgir railway lines could have been added.

Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge, who was railway minister in the UPA 2.0 government, had sanctioned this in early 2014. But once the BJP government took over, in May 2014, it dropped the proposal.

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No response from Vaishnaw

Now, these lines have been moved to the SCoR, the new zone for which Modi recently laid the foundation stone in Visakhapatnam.

Criticising the Centre’s move as “completely unscientific”, Raichur MP G Kumar Naik told The Federal that appeals to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw against the transfer of the two lines to the SCoR fell flat. “We will oppose the government's move at an appropriate level,” he said.

Another complaint Karnataka has is that as many as 13 train connecting the state to northern India do not halt at Yadgir town.

Meanwhile, the people of Chamarajanagar are demanding more funds for the completion of the Hejjala-Chamarajanagar railway line, which spans 141 km and passes through Harohalli, Kanakapura, Malavalli and Kollegal.

This project requires 1,700 acres of land. This project was envisaged way back, when HD Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister.

Contrasting voices

“The Centre’s response is cold to our appeals all these years,” lamented DK Suresh, former MP of Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency and brother of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, whose party JD(S) is part of the ruling NDA at the Centre, said he has requested the Railway Ministry to speed up the pending projects in the Bengaluru-Mysuru region. According to him, the Railway Minister has responded positively.

There is a demand to convert 20 transit-oriented development trains connecting Bengaluru into regular express trains to help commuters. A proposal has gone from the South Eastern Railway Zone to the Railway Board for this.

While Congress leaders in the state are complaining about the alleged apathy of the Union government, BY Raghavendra, a BJP MP, is ruing over delays in the Rs 1,200 crore Shivamogga-Shikaripura-Ranebennur rail line.

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He told The Federal that he had drawn the attention of the Karnataka government to the delay and said the Centre would hasten the project once the requisite land is acquired.

Centre versus Karnataka

When Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the previous budget, the Congress government of Siddaramaiah accused the Centre of discriminating against Karnataka.

Sitharaman asserted that Rs 7, 559 crore was released for Karnataka in FY 2024-25 for the railways alone. She said there were 31 projects underway for laying new tracks of 3,840 km and that projects worth Rs 47,016 crore were being carried out.

State minister Priyank Kharge said Rs 7,559 crore is not sufficient even to complete the existing projects. “We expect more fund allocation to complete all these 31 projects,” the Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj told The Federal.

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Minister's promise

When V Somanna became the Union Minister of State for Railways, Karnataka expected much from him. He has promised that the Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna-City railway station will be developed under the PPP model at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore.

In July 2024, Somanna promised to complete the work on nine important projects covering 1,264 km of railway network.

Regretting the neglect in Mangaluru and Karwar sections, which are crucial for connecting Karnataka with Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and Maharashtra, Somanna promised to devise a comprehensive blueprint.

He had also promised to form three railway zones in the Dakshina Kannada region. None of these promises have been implemented over the past seven months.