Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announced this after laying the
foundation stone of the Rs 1417.23 crore train wheel factory at Bela
near here, marking the beginning of the construction work on the
project.

Prasad, billed as the person who pulled the railways out of the red,
also virtually kicked off his election campaign seeking the
blessings of the people of his Chapra constituency who have returned
him to the Lok Sabha thrice.

"I made my electoral debut from here in the 1977 general elections
and won. The people of Chapra made me lucky for a second time in
1989 Lok Sabha polls as barely months after winning it I became the
chief minister of Bihar and after they chose me for the third time I
became the railway minister," he said.

"I hope that the people of the constituency will continue to shower
their blessings on me even in the future," he said.
Trashing the opposition's charge of giving preferential treatment to
Bihar in granting railway projects, Prasad said he had never ignored
the genuine claims of other states.

"From Chapra to Rae Bareli to Kerala, I have sanctioned railway
projects without any bias," he said.

On the proposed rail wheel factory, third in the country, Prasad
said it would annually produce one lakh wheels.

The comprehensive contract for setting up the factory and allied
structures has been awarded to Larsen & Toubro. The company bagged
the order while competing with two other bidders--Tata Projects and
Gammon India.

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