Chennai, 5 June (H.S.) : The Union Railway Ministry has clarified that there will be no change in the funds allotted to projects of Southern Railway in Tamil Nadu and Kerala for the financial year 2025-26. This comes after a section of media reported that Southern Railway had proposed to surrender funds for certain projects.

According to the official clarification issued by Southern Railway, the ministry has decided to stick to the original budget allocation for various railway works in the two states. The funds earmarked for Tamil Nadu and Kerala will be utilized as per the approved budget, and Southern Railway has been instructed to adhere to the original budget plans and not divert the allocated funds.

Earlier, Southern Railway General Manager RN Singh had proposed surrendering Rs 720 crore funds allocated for new line projects in Tamil Nadu, including Madurai-Thoothukudi, Tiruvannamalai-Gingee, Erode-Palani, and Chennai-Cuddalore. However, Southern Railway later clarified that the proposal was misinterpreted and assured that there would be no change in fund allocation for the state.

The Railway Ministry's decision to maintain the original funding plan is expected to provide relief to projects that were facing uncertainty due to the proposed fund surrender. Southern Railway has assured that it will execute all sanctioned projects in its jurisdiction as per the original budget allocation.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary