West Bengal has got highest ever allocation in rail budget: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday (February 4) that the allocation of ₹6,636 crore to West Bengal in the rail budget is the highest the state has ever received.

On this day, Goyal blamed the Trinamool Congress and the Left for the delay in the railway project in the state. He said the project was stalled due to the fault of the state governments.
 

According to the Ministry of Railways, 53 projects are underway. This includes laying new lines, doubling lines. In all, a project worth Rs 48,275 crore is underway for a 4463 km line. Goel said 34 projects were not given much money in the current budget due to land congestion.

The Union minister said, "I want to assure the people of West Bengal that there is no shortage of funds for projects in the state. Only there should not be any shortage of land and local issues are sorted then projects will be completed on time."
 

Goyal mocked the railway ministers from Bengal and said that if anyone became a minister, he would announce the project. Goyal complained that the land, the money, and the commercial viability of the project were not scrutinized at all. He said that because of this no project would be completed on time and only the cost would go up.
 

Mr Goyal took a dig at pre-BJP budgets where the Railway Budget was separate and said that at that time there was a tendency to announce rail projects for political gains and not for the need of the people.