§ MR. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)To ask the Secretary of State for India if he will say to what extent, as regards mileage and cost, have railway projects 108 in Beluchistan been entertained by the Indian Government, more especially I whether sanction has been promised for the proposed line from Quetta to Nushki; what is the estimated cost per mile and total of such railway, and what liability, if any, in respect of the Indian credit will the Government of India accept on behalf of such railway outside of India; whether the Indian Government has had proposals placed before it regarding the extension through Seistan into Persia, of which project the Quetta-Nushki Railway would be the first portion; and, will he lay the correspondence between the Government of India and the projectors of railways in Beluchistan, Seistan, and Persia before Parliament at an early date.
(Answer.) Since the recent completion of the Pishin section of the State Railway from Rukh to Chaman, the only project entertained by me is the Quetta to Nushki Line, for which a provision of forty-seven lakhs has been made in the current year. The final surveys are not completed, and I cannot estimate the cost at present. The line is not outside India, Beluchistan being a protected Native Indian State. The answer to the second Question is in the negative, and to the third I can only reply that there is no correspondence of the character therein described. —(India Office.)