Kanjikode Project, With Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw latest revelation that India would stop importing railway coaches, the initiative to build a railway coach manufacturing in Kanjikode in Kerala’s Palakkad district is expected to get a new lease on life. Following the minister’s remark, Kerala BJP and RSS officials met with Narendra Modi and requested him to reconsider the project.
Modi has also stated on various occasions that now the country should construct its coaches to meet those requirements. The Railway Minister, meanwhile, has ordered a chairman of the Railway Board who had been requesting the import of coaches on a routine basis to go on leave. It will increase the efficiency of railways system in India.
Furthermore, the government has asked railway officials to add the Kanjikode coach plant on the Pragati website, which includes the nation’s significant projects that are directly overseen by the Prime Minister.
Because the project region is in an area where the BJP has a significant presence, the BJP is seeking to gain political benefit by supporting the factory.
The coach plant at Kanjikode was announced by the Railways in 2006 to recompense Kerala because of its loss following the creation of the Salem Railway Division. Soon after, the state legislature purchased 439 acres of property for the factory and handed it over to the Railways, who paid Rs 32.44 crores for it. The construction was anticipated to cost Rs 550 crores at the time. However, the sum is now anticipated to be doubled.
Following that, even though the factory’s cornerstone was laid on February 21, 2011, there’s been no follow-up. The railways erected a barrier around the newly acquired area, which is now mostly deserted and overrun with vegetation.