Patna: Railway Board Wednesday denied reports
that its diesel locomotive manufacturing factory at Marhaura
and electric locomotive manufacturing unit at Madhepura in
Bihar were being abandoned and said they would be completed
on PPP basis.
"The reports that Railways has planned to abandon or
shelve the two ambitious mega projects are totally misleading,
concocted and based on surmises ... It is a false propaganda
that these projects will be shelved," Railway Board Chairman
Vivek Sahay said.
The two projects were announced in the budget by former
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad.
While the diesel locomotive manufacturing factory at
Marhaura in Saran district would involve an expenditure of Rs
1,400 crore and the electric locomotive manufacturing unit at
Madhepura Rs 2,025 crore and will be decided upon in the
coming budget.
Sahay said Railways had earlier decided to complete
these two major projects in Bihar on its own, but later it was
decided on PPP.
A committee of experts was recently set up to study the
terms and conditions and submit the report within a week for
execution of the two projects, besides another at Kanchrapara
in West Bengal.
He said out of the budgetary allocation made during
2010-11 land have already been acquired and purchased for the
two projects in Bihar.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, February 02, 2011, 16:19