§ SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he can state what sum should be added in respect of expenditure on strategic railways to that of £20,599,500, in order to ascertain the defence expenditure of India in the year 1906–7, and what is the corresponding Estimate to be added to the Estimate for military expenditure in the Budget for 1907–8; also what has been and is to be the charge for the extension of the line from Jamrud to the point on the Kabul River known as Mile 300.
§ MR. CHARLES HOBHOUSEAccording to the latest information in my possession, the expenditure on strategic railways was £220,000 in 1906–7, and the Estimate for 1907–8 is £133,000. The 1797 estimated cost of the Kabul River Railway up to Mile 300 is £337,000, of which £225,000 has already been spent.