Vinod Kumar slams Centre over uncertainty in Railway budget

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Planning Board vice chairman B Vinod Kumar on Saturday said that the BJP government at the Centre has once again done injustice to the State by not providing clarity and leaving the State in the dark on the issue of railways. Vinod Kumar said that the Centre has not made it clear how much land was required for the Kazipet Wagons manufacturing unit, as if it would have informed the State government, the State would have provided it with the land. He demanded that the central government should clarify how much funds would be given for the wagon manufacturing center and how many new jobs would be given.

He demanded the central government to complete the works of Ramagundam-Manuguru Railway line within a fixed time limit. In the current budget, only Rs 10 crore were allocated, which he said was not enough. He faulted the attitude of the central government by saying that if the Ramagundam - Manuguru railway line works are completed, industries would develop a lot. He said that the most important railway line work has been delayed for a decade.

Vinod Kumar expressed his grief that there was no mention of new railway lines for the state of Telangana and not enough funds were announced for the on-going railway lines. He said that the Nizamabad - Armour - Nirmal - Adilabad railway line has become unusable. He rued that the central government did not mention the bullet train to the major cities of southern states like Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kochi.