Patna, Feb. 14: Completion of the rail-cum-road bridge over the Ganga and railway engine factories at Madhepura and Chhapra are among the demands on chief minister Nitish Kumar’s wishlist to be given to railway minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the railway budget for 2011-12.

The chief minister left for New Delhi this evening to press his government’s demand that the Centre approve the annual plan of Rs 24,000 crore for the financial year 2011-12.

While deliberating in detail on how Bihar deserved the approval of the plan size of Rs 24,000 crore, which is on the agenda of his meeting with Planning Commission officials tomorrow, Nitish made it a point to enumerate his expectations from Mamata. The railway budget will be tabled on February 25.

“I will like Mamataji to ensure the completion of the rail-cum-road bridge between Digha and Sonepur, which will connect south and north Bihar, and also projects such as the engine factories at Chhapra and Madhepura,” Nitish told reporters.

The chief minister, who has helmed the railways earlier, pointed out that the Digha-Sonepur bridge — which could become the lifeline for north and south Bihar — was scheduled to be completed by 2009. “But the project is still pending completion with work going on at a snail’s pace for reasons best known to the railway authorities,” he said.

By including the completion of the rail engine factories at Chhapra and Madhepura, Nitish has tried to strengthen his stranglehold on the political constituencies which were earlier regarded as the “pocket-borough” of RJD leader Lalu Prasad.

While the embattled RJD boss still represents Chhapra in the Lok Sabha, he has represented Madhepura — a stronghold of the Yadavs — twice in the past. At present, JD (U) national president Sharad Yadav represents it in the Lok Sabha.

Lalu Prasad, during his tenure as railway minister, had got the rail engine factories sanctioned for Chhapra and Madhepura.

Nitish said he had learnt about “some hurdles” in the way of the completion of the railway engine factories at Chhapra and Madhepura which are being built under the public private partnership (PPP) model.

However, the chief minister chose to point fingers at Lalu Prasad, who was Mamata’s predecessor as railway minister, for the hurdles. “He (Lalu) claimed that his tenure had ensured a turnaround in the railway’s profit which had gone up to Rs 1 lakh crore. Why then did the railway ministry put such important projects in the PPP mode? It (the railways) should have made its own investment in building the engine factories if it had recorded such fabulous profits during Lalu Prasad’s tenure,” he said.

While justifying the plan size of Rs 24,000 crore, the chief minister said: “The investment by the government was necessary to maintain a steady growth rate in Bihar. Keeping in view the increased work in the infrastructure and social sectors, the state must ensure at least 20 per cent growth in its investment per annum.”

Nitish also demanded that the Centre raise the package of Rs 1,000 crore Bihar has been getting after Jharkhand was carved out from it to Rs 4,000 crore per annum.