KERALA (Metro Rail News): Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal has presented the full budget in the state assembly on Friday, 11th March, 2022. He allocated Rs 2,000 crore for acquiring land to build a semi-high speed railway line and expressed hope of getting the Centre’s approval for this project known as the Silverline project. The Finance minister announced that initially, Rs 2,000 crore will be made available to acquire land for this K-rail project. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) will provide the money for this project.
The SilverLine project is a joint venture set up by the Kerala government and the Ministry of Railways. Balagopal is hoping for the central government to release its sanction for the K-Rail project as it is expected to cost over Rs 60,000 crore. He also said that the ‘eco-friendly’ K-line project will boost the state’s development.
The state government had requested the Centre to provide budgetary allocation to the project before, however, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget presented in February this year did not mention anything related to this. The SilverLine will run Between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod with stops at Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode, and Kannur.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister has proposed to set up a new IT park, four IT corridors, and 20 satellite IT hubs in the state with the aim to provide momentum to the information technology sector in the post-COVID-19 era.
