Centre allocates Rs 7032 Cr for railway lines in Andhra: Check details here

Vijayawada: The Union Budget has allocated Rs. 7,032 crore to South Central Railway (SCR) for new lines in Andhra Pradesh.

This year the Centre has allocated 30% more funds for SCR than last year.

General Manager, South Central Railway Sanjeev Kishore in a virtual meet gave a detailed summary of the budgetary allocations for South Central Railway.

The budget allocations for some of the important safety-related works during 2022-23 include:

- Rs. 358 crore has been allotted for Kotipalli–Narsapur new line project. The project was sanctioned in the year 2000-01 for a distance of 57 Kms with a sanctioned cost of Rs. 2,120 crore. About 25% of the project cost would be shared by the Andhra Pradesh government. The new line works in this section involve the construction of important major bridges on Gowthami, Vynatheya, and Vashista rivers, which are progressing at a brisk pace.

- Rs. 289 crore allotted for Kadapa – Bengaluru new line project (Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka). The project was sanctioned in the year 2008-09 for a distance of 255 km with a sanctioned cost of Rs. 2,706 crore. Length in SCR under Andhra Pradesh Jurisdiction is 205 km with a proportionate sanctioned cost of Rs 2,175 crore and the balance in SWR under Karnataka is 50 km. 50% of the project cost is to be contributed by the AP government for the SCR portion. The project is taken up in 4 phases in SCR jurisdiction and 1 phase in SWR jurisdiction. The first stretch from Kadapa–Pendlimarri for a distance of 21 Km is already completed and commissioned.

- Rs. 1,681 Crore allotted for Vijayawada – Gudivada / Machilipatnam-Bhimavaram / Narsapur–Nidadavolu doubling and electrification. The doubling project was sanctioned in the year 2011-12 for a distance of 221 km with a sanctioned cost of Rs. 1,504 crore. It is a cost-sharing project and 50% of the project cost will be shared by the Andhra Pradesh government.

- Rs. 1,000 crore allotted for Vijayawada – Gudur 3rd line project. The 3rd Line project was sanctioned in the year 2015-16 for a distance of 288 km with a sanctioned cost of Rs. 3549 Crore. Execution of works has been commenced in three phases between Gudur- Bitragunta, Karavadi - Bitragunta, and Krishna Canal - Karavadi simultaneously. The section between Kavali – Ulavapadu for a distance of 30 Kms and the section between Talamanchi – Srivenkateswarapalem for a distance of 25 Kms (total to 55 Kms) has been completed. Balance works are in fast progress.

- Rs. 803 crore allotted for Guntur – Guntakal doubling project. The doubling project was sanctioned in the year 2016-17 for a distance of 401 km with a sanctioned cost of Rs. 3,631 Crore. Out of this, 92 km of doubling and electrification works between Nallapadu – Satalur, Edduladoddi– Dhone, and Kurichedu – Gajjelakonda have been completed, while the works in the remaining stretches are also progressing well.

- Rs. 592.5 Crore allotted for Kazipet – Vijayawada 3rd line project. The 3rd Line project was sanctioned in the year 2012-13 for a distance of 220 km with a sanctioned cost of Rs. 1,953 crore. The section between Vijayawada - Kondapalli for a distance of 17.5 Kms is nearing completion. The works in Kondapalli- Errupalem section & yard remodeling works at Kazipet are in fast progress. The works in the remaining sections are also progressing well.

As a part of the development works, Rs. 70 crore has been allotted for the development of the Satellite terminal at Cherlapalli Station, Rs. 58 crore for the Midlife Rehabilitation factory at Kurnool, and Rs. 3 crore allotted for Development of South Side Entry at Tirupati Railway Station.

The Budget allocations to Andhra Pradesh have also been witnessing sustained increase with the current year's allocation being almost 2.5 times the average allocation done during 2014-20.