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.
Angamaly-Erumely route
The Union Budget will be presented next week, which is used to earmark funds for various projects based on the technical feasibility and political priority of the ruling government. The project involving construction of a line from Angamaly to Erumely near Sabarimala for 111 km length was sanctioned in the Railway Budget for the year 1997-98 at a cost of ₹550 crore.
Meanwhile, the project that had witnessed several public protests and policy flip-flops by the various governments is now estimated to cost ₹3,810.69 crore as per the revised estimate by the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL), a special purpose vehicle for executing viable rail projects in Kerala on a cost-sharing basis with the Railways.
The rate of returns (ROR) for the project has been worked out based on 50:50 cost-sharing basis between the Railways and Kerala. In the event of any renege from the cost-sharing as agreed upon by the Kerala government, the project cannot be sanctioned by the Railway Board on account of financial non-viability, according to the Railways.
The new line that cuts through the industrial and tourism hubs of the eastern part of the State will bring a slew of towns on the rail map. Further, if the State government takes an initiative for the development of the Angamaly-Sabari railway as a parallel railway corridor to the Vizhinjam International Seaport, at least 25 towns in Kerala are expected to benefit from the project apart from the pilgrims to the Sabarimala hill temple.
