Plan panel pushes for early completion

Sanjeeb Mukherjee & Disha Kanwar / New Delhi October 1 ! "#11! $%#& 'S(

The Planning Commission is considering the early execution of five major railway projects in the Himalayan region, as it has directed the railway ministry to prepare a blueprint of the estimate on funds, technical inputs and prospective time for their completion. The commission now plans to allocate funds for the projects in the 1 th !ive "ear Plan that starts from #pril $1 . %&e will include these in the category of projects having national importance,' a senior official said. %(t will enable them to raise funds,) he told *usiness +tandard. # ,ailway official, when contacted, confirmed that the issue was under consideration of the Planning Commission. The railway projects include the 1 -./m ,ishi/esh.0aranprayag railway line involving a project cost of ,s 1, 2- crore, the 1-1./m ,s ,321.crore Tana/pur.*ageshwar line 4both in 5ttara/hand6, the ,s 17,871.crore 9ammu.#/hnoor.Poonch railway lin/ covering 77 /m in 9ammu and 0ashmir, the 12:./m *ilaspur.;andi railway lin/ in Himachal Pradesh and the 11$./m ,upai.Parasuram/und railway lin/ in #runachal Pradesh. These five main railway projects are part of the 11 such Himalayan.region projects that have been hanging fire for long because of strategic issues. #mong them five were found to be feasible and of strategic importance, as it evolved from a meeting between officials from the defence ministry along with its counterparts in ,ailways and senior officials from the Planning Commission. %The wor/ on them could start during the 1 th !"P,' a senior official said.