Title - Land acquisition formalities for coach factory completed

Divisional Railway Manager(DRM) Piyush Agarwal on Friday handed over a cheque worth Rs 32,44, 50,627 to District Collector Ali Asghar Pasha, in return for the 230.10-acre land where a coach factory, under the public private participation, is proposed to be set up. Following this, the Collector gave the documents regarding the 230.10-acre land to Agarwal, at the Divisional Railway Headquarters, Olavakkode.Agarwal said that all the formalities to take over the acquired land for the proposed coach factory has been completed. As an immediate measure, the Railways will take steps to construct a boundary wall around the land. The DRM said that 90 acres of forestland would also be taken over for the second phase of the coach factory. Steps were being initiated to de-notify the land. As it falls in the concurrent list, Central clearance was necessary and efforts have already been made to acquire it, the Collector said.Agarwal said the future roadmap envisages setting up of facilities to manufacture modern LHB (Linke Holfmann Bush of Germany and now part of Alstom) design stainless steel and state-of-the-art aluminium-bodied coaches.  The unit will help the Railways to get timely supply of railway coaches. He said that the coach factory will help development, generation of employment and the setting up of auxiliary industries for the supply of parts.

The project was announced first by the Minister of State for Railways in 2008-09 budget. The then Minister of Railways Dinesh Trivedi had laid the foundation stone on February 21. The Railways will have 24 per cent stake and the private partner will hold 76 per cent. Additional Divisional Railway Manager Mohan A Menon, deputy collector (land acquisition) Sumathikutty Amma and senior railway officials participated.