Karnataka and the Centre will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Bengaluru to pave way for the city’s first suburban rail system — a long-pending demand of citizens and civic groups.
The deal will be signed by senior officials in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.
The Railways will take up projects worth only Rs 360 crore, and it is not yet known what project is in the pipeline and the shape it is going to take.
“It’s is not on a large scale. It is limited in scope, but we are happy we are making a beginning,” a railway official said.
The policy, as announced by Prabhu in his last year’s Budget, requires a state to chip in 20 per cent of equity, and the Centre too will respond with a similar share. The rest will come in the form of debt which the state will have to service using revenues from the project income as well as own funding in case of a deficit.
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