Land acquisition has not begun for four major railway projects in Karnataka, the Ministry of Railways has told Parliament. The Belagavi–Dharwad new line of 73 km requires 581 hectares, none of which has been acquired. The Shivamogga–Harihar line of 79 km needs 488 hectares, Whitefield–Kolar of 53 km needs 337 hectares and the Hassan–Belur line of 32 km needs 206 hectares, all yet to be acquired.

Only one of the five listed projects has seen partial progress, with the Shivamogga–Ranebennur new line of 96 km recording the acquisition of 283 hectares out of the 559 hectares required, leaving 276 hectares to be acquired. Overall, Karnataka has acquired 6,134 hectares of the 10,123 hectares required for ongoing railway projects, leaving 3,989 hectares or 39 per cent still pending. The ministry made these disclosures in response to a question raised by Hassan MP Shreyas Patel.

The ministry indicated that the Union Government is ready to execute the projects but said timely completion depends largely on support from the Karnataka government in expediting land acquisition. It added that the delays underline the need for faster action by the state government to make land available for railway infrastructure. Officials said coordination between agencies remains critical to meet project timelines.

The ministry listed 17 railway projects that fall fully or partly in Karnataka and are at various stages of execution. Major new line projects cited included Munirabad–Mahabubnagar, 247 km, Rs39.78 billion (bn); Rayadurg–Tumakuru, 207 km, Rs45.65 bn; Tumakuru–Davanagere, 182 km, Rs21.42 bn; Gadag–Wadi, 257 km, Rs36.68 bn; Bagalkot–Kudachi, 142 km, Rs16.94 bn; and Dharwad–Belagavi, 73 km, Rs9.27 bn. The ministry also identified capacity enhancement schemes such as the Hospet–Hubballi–Londa–Tinaighat–Vasco-da-Gama doubling at Rs47.3 bn and other doubling and third and fourth line works costing tens of billions of rupees aimed at improving connectivity and reducing congestion.