Union Budget: Centre announces seven high-speed railway corridors; Kerala left out, MPs protest

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced the construction of seven high-speed railway corridors aimed at promoting environment-friendly and sustainable transport systems across the country. The announcement was made during the presentation of the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha. However, Kerala has not been included in the project.

Kerala had been eagerly awaiting the announcement of a high-speed rail corridor, and earlier reports had suggested that the Centre was favourable to a project led by “Metro Man” E Sreedharan.

The newly announced corridors are Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi, and Varanasi-Siliguri. Following the announcement, MPs from Kerala raised slogans of “Kerala” in the Lok Sabha in protest against the state’s exclusion from the project.

During the Budget speech, the Finance Minister also announced the construction of a rare earth corridor covering mineral-rich states. The corridor will include Kerala, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

In addition, the Budget proposed the construction of 22 new waterways and the modernisation of existing waterways within the next five years. Nirmala Sitharaman also announced plans to build an inland waterway connecting Varanasi and Patna.