Rs 40 crore to acquire land for Patti-Makhu rail line

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 21

Paving the way for shorter distance between the holy city and Mumbai, the state government has announced to release Rs 40 crore for land acquisition for laying railway line between Patti and Makhu in Ferozepur.

This was conveyed to a delegation of traders and industrialists led by cabinet minister OP Soni, who met Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal in Chandigarh on Thursday.

The NITI Ayog had released a grant of Rs 299 crore for the fiscal 2017-18 and further grants were to be released annually as the entire cost of the project was high. Since the Railways will have to build two bridges on Hari-ke-patan, the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej, and lay railway line on the 25-km stretch between Patti in Tarn Taran and Makhu in Ferozepur.

A direct rail link between Amritsar and Ferozepur is likely to bring down distance between Jammu and Kashmir via Pathankot, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Rajasthan to Mumbai by 240 km.