SIR MANCHERJEE BHOWNAG-GREE (Bethnal Green, N.E.)To ask the Secretary of State for India if he, or the Government of India, had received representations regarding the necessity of inaugurating as soon as possible the Nagda-Bara-Muttra and certain other railway schemes for removing the disadvantages under which the port of Bombay has been placed for want of such lines; and, seeing that a promise was given by the Government of India in January, 1901, that the construction of the Nagda-Bara-Muttra line would be undertaken, subject to the consent of the Secretary of State, as soon as funds were available; and considering that the Indian revenue for the past year has shown a marked increase, whether he is now prepared to give his consent to the construction of that line.
(Answer.) Representations have been made to the Government of India regarding the Nagda - Bara - Muttra Railway, but in view of the many claims on the resources of the Government of India available for railway construction I cannot give any promise as to the dateon which the line will be commenced.—(India Office.)