More than a month after the Southern Railway sought a consent letter from the Kerala government agreeing to shoulder 50% of the revised estimate for the Sabari rail project, the State is yet to give the consent letter.
The office of the Chief Administrative Officer, Southern Railway, issued a letter to Kerala on December 21. The letter mentioned that the State needs to provide a letter of acceptance agreeing to the revised estimate of the project and reaffirming the cost-sharing agreement entered into between the Railways and the Kerala government to shoulder 50% of the project cost.
Only after issuing the letter can the updated estimate of the project be forwarded to the Railway Board for further action, the letter noted. Though the Transport department cleared the proposal and forwarded it to the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), which earlier agreed to make available funds for the project, the file is still under the Finance department. Any delay in issuing the consent letter would only delay the project further, said sources.
