Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has asked Members of Parliament (MPs) from Kerala to put pressure on the Centre to include the immediate needs of the State in the Union Budget.
Addressing the MPs online on Saturday in the wake of Parliament’s Budget session, the Chief Minister appealed to them to intervene to get the nod for the Kochuveli-Kasaragod Semi High Speed Railway corridor aimed at speedy movement across the State.
Mr. Vijayan urged them to take up with the Centre the proposed Tripunithara bypass in the Bharatmala scheme and new National Highway from Palani to Pampa, the base camp of Sabarimala.
The Chief Minister said the Centre’s Point of Call status was needed to open Kannur international airport for flight operation of foreign carriers. Kannur should also be included in the Association of South East Asian Nations Sky Policy and steps should be taken to allow big aircrafts in Karipur international airport.
The meeting was told that the State had so far got only ₹3,413.8 crore as GST compensation out of the total ₹12,100 crore due from the Centre.
The MPs were asked to take up with the Centre the setting up of AIMS at Kinaloor in Kozhikode. The MP’s attention was sought on the eight projects costing ₹115 crore submitted to the Centre for administrative sanction after they were included in the Central Road Infrastructure Fund for 2020-2021.
The Chief Minister sought the help of the MPs to get approval of the Railway to lay the cable of K-Phone in places where the railway line passes through.
