Bangalore, Feb 24 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and industry chambers here Wednesday lauded Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for a slew of proposals, including new trains, survey for new rail lines in the state and a design, development and testing centre in this tech hub.

Thanking Banerjee for her munificence, Yeddyurappa, the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister in Karnataka, said the budget proposals would improve rail connectivity across the state and spur economic growth of the region.

'I am happy with the railway budget as its proposals will benefit the state, which remained neglected for decades. I thank the minister for sanctioning eight new projects on cost-sharing basis with the state government,' the chief minister said in a statement here.

The BJP came out with a statement in Delhi slamming the budget and Banerjee. BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde said Banerjee 'appeared like West Bengal's railway minister'.

But Yeddyurappa, contradicting the party's stance, assured the railway ministry of the state's commitment and cooperation. He said budgetary allocations would be made for the ensuing fiscal (2010-11) towards the state's contribution for the speed execution of the new rail projects.

'The five projects to be implemented under the PPP (public-private partnership) model will have our support as they are critical to improve connectivity and build infrastructure,' he said.

Captains of industry and chambers of commerce also hailed the railway budget and termed it as forward looking to propel economic growth with the involvement of the private sector.

'Involvement of PPP in running special freight trains, maintaining amenities at stations and setting up the National High Speed Railway Authority for high-speed rail corridor will create infrastructure and connectivity required to sustain a high economic growth rate,' Bangalore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCIC) president K.K. Girish said in a statement.

Noting that a special task force to clear proposals for investment within 100 days would augur well to modernise the railway infrastructure, Girish said exploring ideas for new business models and inviting domestic investments through PPP for new lines and world-class stations and auto hubs to ancillary industries would attract the industry to participate in the new projects.

'The minister has responded to our recommendations to introduce multi-level parking complexes through PPP route, special freight train under PPP to carry commodities such as automobiles, vegetable oil, molasses, chemicals, petro-chemical and bulk traffic like fly-ash and cement,' Girish added.

Welcoming the rail budget, Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI) president J. Crasta urged the minister to prepare policy guidelines for speedy implementation of the PPP proposals.

'We are happy to note that private players will be permitted to operate special freight trains with their investments,' Crasta said in a statement.