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April 3, 2002 | 1025 IST
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Railways seek Rs 110 billion for Golden Quadrilateral

BS Economy Bureau

The Railways have asked the finance ministry to provide Rs 110 billion for an additional rail link between the four metros under the Golden Quadrilateral project.

New chairman of the railway board IIMS Rana told reporters today that North Block had also begun exploratory talks with multilateral agencies like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation to tie up funds for the project.

The project was announced by railway minister Nitish Kumar in the Rail Budget this year, but he had not specified the amount.

The project has been touted by the Railways as a crucial element in their operational plans in the face of the increasing competition from the road sector.

Rana said the sum would be in addition to the Rs 40 billion that they had sought for constructing four mega bridges in Bihar and Assam.

According to sources, the Railways have asked the finance ministry to keep funds for the Golden Quadrilateral project outside the annual Plan support for the ministry, which is Rs 123.30 billion for the current financial year.

Rana said the actual freight loading for 2001-02 had been just above 491 million tonnes, which was a shade better than the revised target of 489 million tonnes.

He said the first phase of the Railtel project, including the laying of the optical fibre cables along the railway tracks, would be completed by June this year.

But the ministry had yet to decide on who would be the 49 per cent minority shareholder in the corporation from among the public sector units under the department of telecommunications, he added.

The new chairman also said he expected the operating ratio for the Railways to come down to 94 per cent in the next fiscal.

He said it would give the ministry the financial space to provide for depreciation, pension and other funds.

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