Rs 452 cr central aid to expedite Baddi-Chd railway line project

Tribune News Service

Solan, February 12

The receipt of Rs 452.50 crore for laying the Baddi-Chandigarh railway line in the Union Budget will speed up the project, the work for which began in November last year.

STATE Committed to sharing 50% cost

• The state is supposed to pay 50% of the project cost of Rs 1,540.14 crore. So far, it has paid only Rs 179 crore
• With severe cash crunch hitting the state, doubts are being cast over the availability of funds for the key project
• RTDC Director says, “The state government is committed to sharing 50 per cent of the project cost amounting to about Rs 770 crore.”

The Haryana government had refused to share the cost as the project would largely benefit the industries situated in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt in Himachal.

The state is supposed to pay 50 per cent of the project cost amounting to Rs 1,540.14 crore. So far it has paid Rs 179 crore and the remaining will be paid once the project picks up pace.

With severe cash crunch hitting the state as the government has put on hold release of various development funds, including the last installment of the MLA local area development fund, doubts are being cast over the availability of funds for this key project.

The rail line would be 27.95-km long with 3.05-km stretch falling in Himachal and the rest 24.9-km in Haryana. The project is slated to be completed by November 2025 as two-year period has been given to the contractor to complete work.

“The state government is committed to sharing 50 per cent of the project cost amounting to about Rs 770 crore. So far, we have given Rs 179 crore as our share and the remaining would be granted as and when required,” informed Ajay Sharma, Director, Rapid Transport System Corporation while allaying fears of the non-availability of funds.

Other impediments like availability of hindrance free land were delaying its progress as land owners rued they had not received timely payments.

“Some delay was caused in disbursing funds to the land owners in lieu of their land and structures acquired for the project, but a sum of Rs 32.5 crore would be distributed next week. An amount of Rs 126 crore has been distributed till now,” informed a land acquisition official.

Sanctioned in 2007-08, the broad gauge project has been delayed due to various reasons, including high acquisition cost and Haryana’s refusal to pool in resources. The Ministry of Railways had notified the link as a special project in 2019 to speed up acquisition.

Its timely completion was eagerly awaited as it would put an end to disputes relating to freight rate which crop up in industrial belts every now and then. A dispute between the Adani cement management and transport societies operating at Darlaghat and Barmana has led to closure of two cement plants since December 15.

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