CHENNAI: After a section of media reported that Southern Railway (SR) has proposed to surrender funds for certain projects, the union railway ministry clarified that  no change was being made in the funds allotted to projects of Southern Railway in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the current financial year 2025-26 for various Railway works.

Dismissing media reports as misinterpretation of routine official correspondence made by Southern Railway to the Railway Board, an official clarification issued by SR said, “The routine official correspondence of SR that the funds allotted for certain projects which are not going to be utilised within current quarter, will be sought to be utilised in subsequent quarters, has been misinterpreted wrongly by certain sections of the media due to ignorance.”

Clarifying that Ministry of Railways has decided and Communicated that no change is being made in the funds allotted to projects of Southern Railway in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the current financial year 2025-26 for various Railway works, the SR communique said that Southern Railway should carry out the planning and execution of various projects in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in accordance with the original budget allocation/ funds made for respective projects by the Ministry for the financial year 2025-26. The release also said that Southern Railway is committed to execute all its sanctioned projects in its jurisdiction.