Complete the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri rail line as soon as possible

Railways are a Union subject; for this project the state role is land acquisition, cost-sharing and advocacy. The 63-km Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri line, sanctioned at about Rs 6,753 crore and cost-shared 75% Centre and 25% state, is advancing on central funding, with expenditure crossing Rs 5,250 crore and tunnel breakthroughs achieved on available land. However, the state government has been the documented bottleneck rather than the facilitator the promise envisaged: of 124 hectares required it had handed over only 82 hectares, the Bilaspur-Beri stretch remains blocked for want of land, and against its committed share of roughly Rs 2,711 crore it had deposited only Rs 847 crore. The Union Railway Minister told Parliament in December 2025 and February 2026 that pending land acquisition and unpaid state share are slowing the project, and the Chief Minister has written to the Centre citing the state inability to pay its share. Marked partial: the project progresses, but the state has only partly discharged the role it promised to play and is the principal cause of delay.