While plans are afoot to shift the long-awaited ₹550-crore rail coach factory from Palakkad to Sonepat in Haryana, efforts to counter the move politically and retain the project at Kanjikode are gaining momentum. CPI(M) Lok Sabha member M.B. Rajesh says he is in touch with political parties in the State to collectively demand scrapping of the move. A mega convention is under plan and an all-party delegation would soon meet the Union Railway Minister to press the demand.
The land acquired for the project at Kanjikode five years ago at exorbitant rates by the State remains idle. Except for a partially completed compound wall, no construction activity has been undertaken so far.
The State had completed the acquisition of 230.10 acres as demanded by the Railway Ministry for the coach factory after hectic negotiations with local landowners. On its part, the Railway Ministry paid ₹32.44 crore as land price to the State. Railways have even demanded an additional 90 acres for the second phase of the factory.
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Lack of clarity
The Ministry is now planning to shift the factory to 161.48 acres of land promised on lease by Haryana. While Ministry sources have confirmed the move, there is lack of clarity in Railways about the future use of the land at Kanjikode.
“Apart from the land price, the coach factory at Kanjikode has received only ₹1.60 crore from the Centre so far. The factory was sanctioned for Palakkad following protracted agitations. It is time to ensure a broad-based unity among Keralites to prevent the shifting of the factory to Sonepat,” Mr. Rajesh said.
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Now, it has been a decade since the Union Railway Budget proposed the coach factory at Kanjikode. At the initial stage, the project was expected to be completed in three years with an annual production capacity of 450 coaches.
“We are ready to join the MP for a united political resistance. But he too has been responsible for delaying the project. The previous LDF government took four years to acquire land and hand it over,” says Sumesh Achuthan, vice president of the District Congress Committee.
According to him, the coach factory must be established in Kanjikode under public-private partnership.
Meanwhile, BJP district president E. Krishnadas termed the reports about shifting of the factory from Kanjikode ‘baseless.’
“The BJP is committed to implementing the project which has been delayed so far because of the negligence on the part of the Centre and State governments. The party can convince the Narendra Mod government about the need to retain the factory at Kanjikode,” he said.