Telangana will allot 500 acres near Shamshabad airport to establish a high speed rail hub for corridors linking Hyderabad with Chennai, Bengaluru and Pune. The Chennai corridor is proposed at 778 km, Bengaluru at 586 km and Pune at 556 km, and the state recommended that the lines originate from Shamshabad because of the international airport. Officials said the Hyderabad–Chennai route should pass through Amaravati and include a sanctioned link to Bandar Port to speed freight movement from the dry port. The chief minister told the Railway Minister that Shamshabad would become a tri junction if the Bengaluru and Pune corridors are developed near the airport and urged the Centre to begin land acquisition and start work on the three corridors. The Railway Minister responded positively and assured that work would commence. The state also requested that the Krishna–Vikarabad railway line be taken up fully with central funds and offered to bear the entire land acquisition cost. He urged the Defence Minister to transfer 100 acres for the Musi Riverfront Development Project and invited him to the foundation stone laying of the Gandhi Sarovar Project. Limestone deposits identified at Tekalkode are expected to support a cement and textile manufacturing hub, and the government plans to develop Kodangal, Tekalkode and Daulatabad as industrial zones. The Gandhi Sarovar Project at Bapu Ghat, where Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes were immersed, is being planned as an environmentally sustainable development that will include a national museum, a knowledge centre and a handloom promotion centre. He asked the Civil Aviation Minister to upgrade Mamnoor airport at Warangal to international standards and to provide cargo services and maintenance, overhaul and repair facilities. The state offered an additional 249.82 acres for the Adilabad airport to expedite clearances. He requested the Food Corporation of India to purchase an additional 1.8 million (mn) metric tonnes (t) of paddy and sought permission to mill a further 1.0 mn metric tonnes with five per cent broken rice, and asked for a 10 per cent discount plus two month extension of the milling deadline.