Mangaluru: The budget has given hope that finally the Mangaluru District Jail will be shifted to a new spacious premises. The budget earmarks Rs 85 crore for a new high security prison at Mangaluru.

When it is completed at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore, it will be the 10th such facility in the state after Shivamogga. The state government had earlier released Rs 2 crore for the central prison, and earmarked another Rs 7.5 crore for the facility last year.

The department is in possession of 67.89 acres at Mudipu for the central prison project. It will be an all-inclusive facility with facilities to hold 1,000 undertrials and convicts. The blueprint for the prison has provisions for automatic doors with spikes at the entrance.

In the absence of it, semi-automatic gates and crash barriers will be installed. There is also provision for a helipad and a separate staff quarters complex to house 270 jail staff, a library, hospital and workshops. The present district prison is overcrowded and houses 410 undertrials, double its capacity.