With no Budgetary allocation, voices become louder to merge Konkan Railway with Indian Railways
The Hindu
It has failed to provide adequate passenger amenities in coastal Karnataka, say passenger committees of DK and UK
Voices are growing louder for the merger of Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd., (KRCL) with the Indian Railways since KRCL as a public sector undertaking is not getting any Budgetary support from the Union government thereby, crippling infrastructure upgradation on its 738 km route network.
While the Indian Railways got ₹2.4 lakh crore allocation in the Union Budget presented on February 1, Wednesday, KRCL got nothing as the Corporation has to sustain on its own. KRCL had earned a net profit of ₹55.86 crore in 2021-22 and ₹80 crore for the half year ending September 2022.
Paschima Karavali Railway Yatri Abhivriddhi Samithi President G. Hanumanth Kamath told The Hindu that not much infrastructure development took place along KRCL network as it is a separate entity. Despite Karnataka being a major shareholder in the joint venture and provided vast extents of land, coastal Karnataka did not get much benefit for the travelling public, in terms of infrastructure as well as train services.
Only five passenger service trains cater to coastal Karnataka needs while the lion’s share is meant Kerala, a minority stakeholder in the JV, he said. After the merger, the Karnataka and Goa portions should be brought under the South Western Railway and the Maharashtra portion under Central Railway zones, he added.
Rajiv Gaonkar, Secretary of Uttara Kannada Railway Seva Samithi said KRCL is basically a railway construction company and is not competent enough to operate passenger service trains. Its focus has always been on freight trains so as to earn maximum revenue and the Corporation did not bother to augment passenger amenities. Karwar station, for example, does not have even train watering facility to make it a terminal station, while many important stations in Karnataka just have basic amenities.
The problem with KRCL is that it works as a corporate entity and this is high time it is merged with the Indian Railways for enhanced infrastructure and passenger amenities, Mr. Gaonkar said. Of the ₹1156 crore total revenue of KRCL in 2021-22, ₹754 crore is from projects, ₹392 crore from operations and ₹9 crore from other operations.
Yogendra Swamy from Mysuru Grahaka Parishat noted that the State government on January 19 accorded approval to release ₹73.5 crore to KRCL towards the Third Rights issue to maintain its 15% equity in the Corporation.