Kerala told to start land acquisition with its 50% project cost: Vaishnaw on Sabarimala rail project
In a written reply to questions from Congress's Jebi Mather Hisham in RS Friday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that in a recent meeting with CM Pinarayi Vijayan, the state government has been requested to begin land acquisition by using its share of 50% of the project cost.
Vaishnaw said that once land acquisition by the state starts, work can proceed further.
The 111-km Angamali-Sabarimala railway line project via Erumeli was sanctioned in 1997-98. It is among the crucial railway projects in Kerala, which is expected to cater to the pilgrims visiting Sabrimala temple. Erumeli is the gateway to the famous hill temple.
However, only the work on Angamali-Kaladi (7 km) line and long lead works on Kaladi-Perumbavoor (10 km) were taken up so far. Vaishnaw said that further works could not be taken up due to protests against land acquisition and fixing of alignment of the line, court cases against the project and inadequate support from the state government. The project's estimated cost has been revised to `3,801 crore by Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL) and submitted to Kerala government in December, 2023.
In August 2024, the Kerala government gave its conditional consent to the estimate. Later, the Railways Ministry asked the state government to give unconditional consent for sharing the cost. The ministry also asked the Kerala government to enter into a tripartite MoU among the state government, Ministry of Railways and RBI for the project.
'However, in a memorandum submitted by Kerala government to the Railway Minister on June 3, 2025, it has been intimated that the Kerala government does not agree to enter into tripartite agreement,' Vaishnaw said. An MoU was inked between the state and the Railways Ministry in January 2016 but work could not be started due to ambiguity over financing and sharing of total cost.
Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal correspondent with The Indian Express, Business Bureau. He covers India's two key ministries- Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He frequently uses the Right to Information (RTI) Act for his stories, which have resulted in many impactful reports. ... Read More
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