Vaishnaw asks Kerala CM to expedite land acquisition for rail projects

In a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday, minister urged the state to instruct officials to accelerate land acquisition so that construction of ongoing projects could proceed

Amid rising delays in railway projects due to land acquisition challenges, Union minister of railways, information technology, and information and broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw has sought the Kerala government’s support in expediting the process.

 

In a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday, the minister urged the state to instruct officials to accelerate land acquisition so that construction of ongoing projects could proceed.

 

"Currently, railway infrastructure projects worth Rs 12,350 crore are underway in Kerala, and the highest-ever budget outlay of Rs 3,011 crore has been allocated for the financial year 2024-25. However, most railway projects in Kerala are not progressing due to the non-availability of requisite land," Vaishnaw stated in his letter, which was reviewed by this publication.

 

Vaishnaw noted that despite the railway ministry having paid Rs 2,100 crore to acquire 470 hectares of land, only 64 hectares have been acquired so far.

 

These projects include the doubling of rail lines on the Trivandrum-Kanyakumari, Ernakulam-Kumbalam, and Kumbalam-Turavur routes, as well as a new line between Angamali and Sabarimala. While the doubling projects require relatively smaller land parcels, the new line project has seen little progress, with only 24 of the required 416 hectares acquired.

 

“Railways had initiated efforts for the acquisition of land for most of the sanctioned projects but could not succeed in acquiring the land,” the minister wrote.

 

According to the ministry of statistics and programme implementation’s latest infrastructure statistics report, there are 232 ongoing railway projects across India, originally estimated to cost Rs 4.32 trillion. However, due to delays caused by various factors, the cost of these projects has risen to Rs 5.45 trillion and is expected to reach Rs 6.82 trillion by completion.

 

A cumulative expenditure of Rs 4.21 trillion has already been incurred on these projects. The report also highlights that Kerala has 34 ongoing central government projects worth Rs 70,128 crore, with an estimated completion cost rising to Rs 77,570 crore. Nearly half of this amount has already been spent.