Karad-Chiplun rail line funds diverted to bullet train: Chavan

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday alleged that the state government is in the process of diverting the funds of the proposed Karad-Chiplun railway line project to the MumbaiAhmedabad bullet train project.

"Shapoorji Pallonji Co Pvt Ltd, which had inked a memorandum of understanding with Konkan Railway Corporation Limited in August 2016, has now withdrawn from the (KaradChiplun railway line) project. The company was supposed to construct the new train line between Karad and Chiplun at a cost of Rs 3,195 crore," Chavan said.

"No decision was taken since the MoU was signed and the company had to wait for almost a year. Now, it has pulled out. I suspect it is being done to divert the funds for bullet train," the senior Congress leader alleged.

The ambitious Rs 1,10,000 crore bullet train project was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad last month. A loan of Rs 88,000 crore will be taken from Japan for the project. The funds will be given at an interest of 0.1 pe cent per annum by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This loan has to be repaid to Japan in 50 years, with 15 years grace period.

Chavan, however, said that land acquisition costs are not considered in these figures.

"The state government will have to spend for it (land acquisition) from its treasury. Hence, the land acquisition costs in the KaradChiplun railway line project are going to be diverted to the bullet train project," Chavan, who represents Karad South assembly constituency, alleged.

"Even if the interest rate is just 0.1 per cent, I think we will have to repay it in the Japanese currency- yen and the appreciation rate of yen is three per cent every year. In the last decade, the Japanese yen has appreciated over 60 per cent. So imagine, how much we will have to repay to the Japanese partner after 15 years," he added.