Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Union Railway Minister has said that the Indian Railways require Rs. 1,47,187 crore for completing its 347 pending projects in different parts of the country.

Mr. Bansal said that the work on the pending projects could be speeded up if the Railways receive assistance from the state governments in the form of land and sharing costs. He said that the Railways have announced several projects in response to the demands from the ministers and as a result has an enormous financial commitment.

He said that due to a large number of projects, "the financial spread has been thin. As a result, found it difficult to finish work at a pace we might have liked." He assured that the railway is working as per the money sanctioned and allegations of time and cost overruns are inaccurate.

Several members of the Rajya Sabha have expressed concern over the delays in implementing projects by the Railways and have demanded that accountability must be fixed.

Mr. Bansal said that the railways are required to take up a number of projects. He cited the examples of Karnataka and Haryana, which have both come forward to share costs of railway projects in their territories.