BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the foundation stone of Bangalore Metro Phase-3 project here, worth over Rs 15,610 crore, flagged off 3 Vande Bharat Express trains and inaugurated the Metro Rail Yellow line, worth about Rs 7,160 crore, here.
Besides, the Belagavi-Bengaluru Vande Bharat, the PM flagged off Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-Amritsar and Ajni (Nagpur)-Pune Vande Bharat services virtually.
The launch of projects triggered a fight for credit with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stating that the state has been spending more than the Centre on Bengaluru’s Metro network, “even though the project is meant to be jointly funded.”
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the Centre “has very little role in the Bengaluru Metro Rail project” as 80 to 90 per cent of the project cost was borne by the state government.
“The Centre has fully neglected Karnataka, but to respect Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we requested him to inaugurate the Metro Yellow Line,” Shivakumar said. Karnataka Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge criticised the BJP for “hijacking” the credit for Yellow Line.
Countering the allegations, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the railway budget for Karnataka has risen from Rs 835 crore before 2014 to Rs 7,500 crore after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. “Such an important state like Karnataka was only getting a meagre Rs 835 crore before 2014. Thanks to Modi, it is now getting Rs 7,500 crore. Also, projects worth Rs 54,000 crore are underway in Karnataka. We are redeveloping 61 stations in the state under the Amrit Bharat scheme,” he said.
Union Ministers Manohar Lal Khattar said there were more plans in the pipeline…in the coming years, Bangalore would have the second-best Metro network after Delhi.
On infrastructure growth, the Prime Minister said in 2014, Metro rail services were confined to just five cities. Today, metro rail networks span over 1,000 km across 24 cities, making India the third-largest metro network globally. Since Independence, till 2014, only 20,000 km rail network had been electrified. During 11 years alone, from 2014 to 2025, it has increased to 40,000 km.