Wednesday, June 29 2005 12:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Railway Minister Laloo Prasad yesterday (Jun 28, 2005) sought financial cooperation from States to meet the demands for new 'railwandian' Railways needed Rs 46,000 crore for its existing projects and as such there was a need for financial help from State Governments to complete these projects in a time-bound manner.

Saying that many States were coming forward with financial assistance, the Minister urged other States to render full cooperation in completing the pending projects.

He said Road Over Bridges (ROBs) were imperative for safety in both railway and road transport sector, and pointed out that 50 per cent of the expenditure was to be borne by the States and the remaining by the Centre. But the construction of many ROBs could not be completed due to the State Governments' inability to release funds for this purpose.

Laloo said if the State Governments were unable to provide funds for construction of ROBs, the Indian Railways could go ahead with the construction of ROBs on its own provided an undertaking was given by the respective States in this connection.