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Kerala has offered to become an equal partner for a rail line that links hilly areas of the state from Nilambur to Nanjangode near Mysore in Karnataka.
The state was prepared to bear 50 per cent of the expenses if the Centre takes up the Nilambur-Sulthan Bathery-Nanjangode rail line, chief minister Oommen Chandy said here today.
When the proposal was taken up with the Centre, this stand had been made clear that this was a priority railway project as far as Kerala was concerned, he said.
The state Cabinet also had sanctioned Rs 5 crore as the initial allotment for the preliminary work.
The proposed line would start from Nilambur in Malappuram district and stretch to Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad and to Nanjangode in Karnataka.
The entire stretch would pass through the slopes of the Western Ghats.
