The former Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge has said the Karnataka government cannot go back on its commitment to share the cost of railway projects for which it had given its consent.
Referring to reports appearing in a section of the media about reservations expressed by the State government on cost sharing owing to escalating costs, Kharge said here on Saturday that in the overall interest of the State and to improve the railway network, the government should stand by its commitment and provide funds and infrastructure for railway projects taken up on cost-sharing basis.
There was some justification in the State government's apprehension over escalating project costs. The Railways should help the government by preparing the estimates at the time of the State committing to the projects and ensure that the cost escalation factor was taken care, said Kharge.
He said that not all railway projects in Karnataka were taken up on cost-sharing basis, and a majority of the projects had been taken up by the Railways with its own funds.
Kharge added that the Railway Minister should give more stress on completing track-doubling of Bangalore-Mysore and Yelahanka-Dharmavaram lines to help increase the frequency of trains.