Last week, Rajasthan got its first Vande Bharat train for Ajmer and Jaipur. However, Banswara, the southern district of the state, still awaits railway connectivity. The project to connect Banswara with trains has been “shelved”, railway officials have told News18. A similar situation affects the lives of people in the Tonk and Karauli districts.
According to ministry documents seen by News18, it was in 2011-12 that the around 190-km Ratlam-Dungarpur via Banswara line was proposed. The state government had agreed to provide land and share 50 per cent of the final construction cost of the project, as per the initial plan. However, it has been more than 10 years but the district, predominantly inhabited by tribals, is yet to get train connectivity.
“The deal was that the Rajasthan government will provide land free of cost and will also bear 50% cost of the project. However, they (the Rajasthan government) have managed to acquire a little over 35% of the land required for the project and have also refused to share the 50% cost. Instead, they requested that the entire construction cost should be borne by Railways,” a ministry official told News18 on condition of anonymity.
The total requirement of land for the project was 1,736 hectares. The state government has acquired just 646 hectares. Also, it deposited only Rs 200 crore as the construction cost of the project, said officials.
What Railways says
According to the ministry, since the Rajasthan government has neither provided the total land required for the project nor deposited its share to the Railways as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), “the project is presently held up”.
“The project has been shelved,” another official from the North Western Railway (NWR), who did not wish to be named, told News18.
The Railways has also said that on the state government’s request, it did a bankability study of the project.
“As per the report, the cost of the project, excluding the cost of the land, was Rs 4,262.35 crore with the Rate of Return as (+) 2.73 %…If the cost of the complete land for setting up of this project is also included then the Rate of Return of the project will be further reduced,” the Railways had said.
As per the ministry, the government of Rajasthan has been requested to make the project viable by providing land free of cost.
“However, the state government has not agreed to provide land free of cost. The project is held up on this account,” the ministry added.
Similar situation in Tonk and Karauli
Not just the Banswara district but Tonk and Karauli are also waiting for railway connectivity. Tonk, which is around 100 km from state capital Jaipur, shared the same pain as Banswara.
According to the Railways, the 165-km-long new line between Ajmer and Sawai Madhopur via Tonk was approved in 2014 on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis between the Ministry of Railways and the Government of Rajasthan. The land was to be provided free of cost by the state government.
The ministry said it had requested the Rajasthan government for providing the funding and land.
“The Rajasthan government refused to share the cost of the project. The Railways has conducted a bankability study for the project. As per the study, cost of the project in 2021 was assessed at Rs 2,215.27 crore with land and Rs 1,823.13 crore excluding land cost. The Rate of Return of the project is (-) 7.85% with land and (-) 7.08% excluding land cost. Since the Government of Rajasthan has refused to share the cost of the project, the project is held up on this account,” the ministry added.
A railway line between Dholpur and Karauli has also been a long-pending demand.
What state government says
Since being re-elected in 2018, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has time and again raised this issue and asked the Railways Ministry to connect these districts with trains. Even last week, during the inauguration of the Delhi-Ajmer Vande Bharat, he urged Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to connect the headquarters of Banswara, Tonk, and Karauli with the Railways.
In a tweet in Hindi, Gehlot, in November 2019, had said that the “state government is ready to pay the cost of land acquisition for the ambitious project of Dungarpur-Ratlam-Banswara rail line. If the central government cooperates in bearing the construction cost, then it will be easy to complete this project of connecting the tribal areas of the state with the rail line”.
In June 2019, Gehlot, in a series of tweets had said: “Ratlam-Dungarpur via Banswara railway line should be initiated. Dholpur-Sarmathura broad-gauge line should be started soon along with an extension of route up to Gangapur City. Similarly, Ajmer-Sawai Madhopur via Tonk railway line work should also be started.”
Gehlot, who took part in the fifth Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog in Delhi, also tweeted that he drew the attention of the think tank to some long-pending rail projects in the state.
“For special rail projects, the cost of land acquisition should be borne by the states, while the Centre should take the responsibility of the rest of the cost of the project,” he said in the June 2019 tweets.
The Union Budget 2023-24 has prioritised the push for infrastructure development as the ministries of Railways and Road Transport and Highways bagged the highest allocation after the Defence Ministry. As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2023-24 on February 1, for Railways the highest ever outlay at Rs 2.40 lakh crore was set aside. However, the future does not seem so bright for these Rajasthan districts.
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