The Kerala government will urge the Railway Ministry to earmark maximum possible amount for the proposed coach factory at Palakkad in the railway budget for the coming year.
Talking to the media after a conference with the Members of Parliament on railway development here on Friday, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said that the government would write to the Ministry that the land for the factory would be handed over to Railways within a month. Of the 426 acres required for the unit, only 84 acres needed to be acquired. This would be completed in two weeks. As a portion of the land had been notified by the government as ecologically fragile, an exemption would be granted under the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Act.
The Chief Minister said the State would submit a memorandum to the Railway Minister listing various demands of the State regarding railway development and the need for construction of new bridge at Netravati in Karnataka for doubling of the line. Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs M. Vijayakumar, whos holds charge of Railways, told journalists that formation of a new railway zone based in Kerala would be the main demand of the State. Besides, the doubling and electrifications of the remaining portions of lines between Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram should be completed.