Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar today termed the Railway Budget as 'disappointing' as it did not include most of the projects proposed by the state government and flayed the hike in freight rates.
Shettar criticised the hike in freight charges saying, "it will lead to price rise, burdening the common man".
"Karnataka is the only state, providing land and sharing 50 per cent of the cost of new railway projects. In spite of this, it is regrettable that the state's demands have been sidelined," he said.
Out of the seven new railway projects requested by Karnataka, only Gadag-Wadi, Srinivaspur-Madanpalli and Chikkaballapur-Puttaparti lines have been approved, he said.
Though a few trains have been extended, it was more beneficial to the other states as the distance extended was very short.
"On the whole, instead of addressing our earlier grievance, Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has done further injustice to Karnataka," Shettar said.
Union Minister for Petroleum M Veerappa Moily, however, described the budget "as the best under the circumstances" and hailed the approval of two new projects in his constituency.
Moily thanked Bansal for introducing the weekly Bangalore-Mangalore Express.
KPCC President G Parameshwara also welcomed the railway budget.
