Long pending Bhadrachalam Road-Kovvur railway line on backburner as AP delays funding

The long-pending Kothagudem to Kovvur railway line project has failed to progress even after sanction, leaving local residents disappointed. Activists said the delay is due to the Andhra Pradesh government not committing its share of project costs.

Kothagudem: The proposed Kothagudem (Bhadrachalam road) to Kovvur railway line project, which has been pending for over five decades, is yet to get on track, much to the disappointment of local residents here.

The 151 km long Bhadrachalam-Kovvur broad gauge line construction was first mooted in 1969-70. Several surveys have been carried out for the project and, after much delay, the project was sanctioned in 2012-13 with an estimated cost of Rs 2154 crore.

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As part of the railway line, a 56.25 km long railway line between Kothagudem and Sathupalli was made operational in May 2022 at a cost of Rs 990 crore, with SCCL and South Central Railway (SCR) sharing the expenditure. The railway line is now being used for coal transportation. In order to connect Kothagudem with Kovvur in East Godavari district, located on the Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam section, known as the Howrah-Chennai Main Line, the Union Railway Ministry proposed a 119 km new line project with a modified alignment from Sathupalli to Kovvur.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in December 2024 told Rajahmundry MP Daggubati Purandeswari in Parliament that the project was sanctioned on a 50 percent cost sharing basis with the Government of Andhra Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 2155 crore.

With the Union Minister’s announcement, the public felt that the project would get on track, but construction has not progressed. Speaking to Telangana Today, Kovvur Railway Line Sadhana Samithi founder Kodamasimham Panduranga Charyulu said the delay was due to the Andhra Pradesh government’s failure to commit to cost sharing.

The same was confirmed by SCR General Manager Sanjay Kumar Srivastava when MP Purandeswari met him recently in Secunderabad and urged him to expedite the project. The Telangana government has already paid its share and the line from Kothagudem to Sathupalli was completed, but the Andhra Pradesh government has not yet paid its share, he noted.

Once operational, the railway line would reduce the distance between Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad by nearly 100 km, significantly improving travel efficiency between eastern and southern India, as it bypasses Vijayawada junction.

Eluru MP Putta Mahesh Kumar and Purandeswari from Andhra Pradesh have been making efforts to expedite the project, but Telangana MPs are not showing interest in it. The Telangana government should pursue the matter with the Andhra Pradesh government, Panduranga Charyulu added.