New Delhi | A rail coach factory at Palakkad in Kerala was sanctioned in the Railway Budget for 2012-13; however, the existing production units and those already planned are sufficient to meet the overall demand for rolling stock in the near future, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
CPI(M) MP from Kerala John Brittas raised the issue in the House and asked why the Rail Coach Factory at Kanjikode, sanctioned in the 2008-09 Railway Budget and for which the foundation stone was laid in 2012, remained unimplemented despite the Kerala government having acquired the required land.
Brittas also sought to know the reasons, including "whether the subsequent PPP model and review of coach manufacturing capacity led to its deferment."
“The work of setting up of Rail coach factory at Palakkad in Kerala was sanctioned in Railway Budget 2012-13 in JV/PPP mode. Rail Coach manufacturing units are set up keeping in view the Railways’ overall operational requirement of Rolling Stock. Presently, the existing Production Units and those already planned are sufficient to meet the Railways’ overall requirement of aforesaid Rolling Stock in near future,” Vaishnaw said.
“Further, any available Railway land is utilised for creating infrastructure as per the operational needs. The said railway land measuring approximately 228 acres at Kanjikode, Palakkad was acquired at a cost of approximately Rs. 39.80 crore and has been planned for future development/operational needs of Indian Railways,” he added.
New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram | CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas on Monday alleged that the Centre had abandoned the long-pending rail coach factory project at Kanjikode in Palakkad, accusing it of betraying Kerala by shelving a project announced nearly two decades ago.
In a Facebook post, Brittas said the Centre's decision became evident from the written reply given by the Railway Ministry to a question raised by him in the Rajya Sabha on July 31.
According to Brittas, the rail coach factory project was announced in the 2008-09 Railway Budget with a proposed investment of over Rs 1,215 crore and a production capacity of 600 coaches annually.
He said the Kerala government had acquired and handed over the required land within the stipulated time and the foundation stone for the project was laid in February 2012.
"After 18 years, the Centre has now abandoned the project, citing that the existing coach manufacturing units in the country are sufficient," Brittas alleged.
He claimed that the Kanjikode project had been deliberately sidelined despite being announced and inaugurated years ago.
"The most ironic part is that the Centre now says the land acquired for the coach factory will be utilised for the Railways' future development requirements, without specifying any alternative project," he said.
He contended that the Centre has an obligation to sanction another railway manufacturing or industrial project of similar scale for the state.
Responding to Brittas' remarks, Congress MP from Palakkad V K Sreekandan said the Railway Ministry had officially informed Parliament in 2022 that the coach factory project had already been abandoned.
Sreekandan alleged that both the BJP-led Central government and the previous LDF government in Kerala had failed to intervene to revive the project.
"Ever since I became an MP in 2019, I have been consistently demanding the implementation of the sanctioned coach factory in Palakkad. John Brittas was not an MP then and does not know the history of this issue. His statements are made out of ignorance," Sreekandan said.
He said the Railway Minister had given him a written reply in 2022 confirming that the project had been dropped.
"The Centre had officially informed Parliament years ago that the project was abandoned. That was in 2022. Now it is 2026," Sreekandan said.
