Andhra Pradesh sanctions ₹100 crore for delayed Konaseema rail project

The Andhra Pradesh government has issued administrative sanction for ₹100 crore to support the long-delayed Kotipalli-Narsapur railway line project in Konaseema. The 57-km line was initially estimated to cost ₹2,120 crore and was approved in 2001 on a cost-sharing basis. Under the original arrangement, the state government was required to contribute 25% of the total cost.

The state had deposited ₹52.69 crore over the past 24 years, while the Ministry of Railways had spent ₹1,181.19 crore as of March 2024. Andhra Pradesh has now informed the Railways that it will share 25% of the total project cost, including land acquisition and civil components. The sanction was issued through Government Order R.T.

575 by the Department of Transport, Roads and Buildings. The funds will be transferred to the Revenue Divisional Officer, Amalapuram, while the district Collector will take further action. The project remains incomplete, and the state is yet to hand over 238 hectares of land to the Ministry of Railways.

The government said the latest release was intended to speed up work. The funding followed renewed attention to the project after a September 18 report on the line’s delay. The Konaseema Railway Sadhana Samithi subsequently held a round-table conference and adopted a resolution to revive its campaign for the railway.

Amalapuram MP G.M. Harish Balayogi welcomed the grant and said it would help accelerate the project. The line was conceived by his father, G.M.C.

Balayogi, who was India’s first Dalit Lok Sabha Speaker. Members of the railway campaign group and MLC Kudipudi Suryanarayana also thanked the government. The supplied material does not provide a revised completion date for the railway line.