Karnataka to get three new railway lines

B D Narayankar

Press Trust of India

Bangalore, Nov 21: The Railway Ministry has approved
three new railway lines in the state, Karnataka Chief Minister
D V Sadananda Gowda said here today.
"Three new railway lines - Gadag-Wadi, Kengeri-Chamrajnagar
and Srinivasapura-Madanapalled - have been approved (by the
Railway Board)," he said delivering keynote address at
Business Standard Infrastructure Round Table 2011 here.
About Rs 24,000 crore worth projects are being undertaken
in the state, including 2,137 km of new railway line in
Karnataka, Gowda said. "Gauge conversion and line doubling
works also are being undertaken," he added.
The state government has also received in-principle
approval for Metro Phase II from the Central Government, he
added.
About air connectivity, Gowda said both Shimoga and
Gulbarga airports, being developed under Public-Private
Partnership (PPP), would be operational before July 2012.
As many as 105 infrastructure projects under PPP format are
underway in the state and are at various stages of development
involving an investment of Rs 80,946 crore, he said.
Karnataka has been at the forefront in various sectors
including education, health, business, communication and
information technology, he said.
"The state contributes up to 8 per cent of India's
industrial income and 9.8 per cent of product exports," Gowda
said. Karnataka is the seventh largest and fifth most
urbanised state and ranks third as a recipient of FDI, the
chief minister said.
Gowda also said the government was taking up major projects
like the greenfield port at Tadadi, Dabhol-Bangalore gas
pipeline, city gas distribution for Bangalore, international
transit centre at Subhashnagar and traffic/transport
management centre at Hebbal.