§ SIR JOHN LENG (Dundee)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India, what is the estimated total amount proposed to be contributed towards railway extension by the independent States of India during the current year, and for the three years covered by the Indian Government's programme; what is the aggregate mileage that will be constructed from the funds of these States apart from the proposed line in Kashmir; can the names of the States thus contributing to railway extension be given, with the amounts which each will contribute; and, on what terms as to interest, acquisition of lands, and jurisdiction are these railway advances made by these States, and are the princes and chiefs treated with as free agents in these transactions.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingThe estimated total amount to be contributed towards railway extension by native States during the next three years is 5,800,000 tens of rupees, including about 1,500,000 for the proposed Kashmir line; and the aggregate mileage under construction or projected as a charge upon these funds is 1,087 miles, or, excluding the 175 miles of the Kashmir railway, 912 miles. Roughly speaking, about a third of each of these totals may be allotted to each of the next three years. The names of the contributing States, besides Kashmir, are Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Jeypur, Gwalior, Mysore, Oodeypur, Bickanir, Rewa, and Rajpipla. The terms and conditions vary in each case.