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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
 Posted - 06/12/2008 : 00:21:17
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Railway team to inspect land for coach factory Preparations on to lay the foundations
Another team had cleared site on June 2
400-kV substation to come up to supply power
PALAKKAD: A high-level team of technical officials from the Southern
Railway headquarters in Chennai will inspect on Thursday the land at
Kanjikode identified by the State government for the Railway Coach
Factory.
Preparations are going on at the State and Central government level
to lay the foundation stone of the project, the biggest Central
government project in the State after the Cochin Port and the Cochin
Refinery, in September. Hundreds of ancillary units will also come up
for providing the nearly 1,000 components required to manufacture a
railway coach.
The State government had already identified 1,000 acres of land for
the project. A preliminary inspection by a team of Railway officials
on June 2 found the site suitable. The State government informed the
Railways that once the Railway Board cleared the land, it will be
acquired under fast track system.
Special Officer for the Railway Coach factory project appointed by
the State government, Usha Titus, is coordinating with the Railway
authorities at Delhi to speed up the process.
Jobs for 3,000 people
Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, during his visit to the district
on June 2, said that he had invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to
lay the foundation stone for the factory. The project will bring an
investment of Rs.6,000 crore and provide jobs to 3000 people under
the Railways.
The State government has taken steps to provide power and water to
the project area. The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) will set
up a 400-kV substation to supply electricity to the factory.
Electricity Minister A.K. Balan said that the work of the substation
costing Rs.100 crore would be entrusted with the Power Grid
Corporation, a public sector company.
Water tank
The Kerala Water Authority has identified land for constructing an
overhead water tank to supply water to the project area from
Malampuzha reservoir. The Revenue Department officials said since the
area was uncultivable waste land, acquisition of land would not be a
problem.
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irse
Forum Admin
India
553 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2008 : 04:29:51
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Land problem in Coach factory at Raibareily
[/size=3]
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080612/jsp/nation/story_9399723.jsp
Lucknow, June 11: A sudden turnaround by the Mayavati government has
cast a cloud on Lalu Prasad’s dream railway coach project in Sonia
Gandhi’s constituency, Rae Bareli.
The plot earmarked by the railways, originally belonging to the
agriculture department, has been registered as gram sabha land, which
cannot be used for industrial or commercial purposes unless so
decreed by the district magistrate. Even then, it lends itself to
legal scrutiny, as had happened in the case of Amitabh Bachchan. Last
year, the actor had to surrender a plot in Barabanki, which was
registered as gram sabha land, after much legal wrangling.
The railway minister had, on February 13 last year, announced that a
new coach factory, the country’s third, would come up at Lalganj in
Rae Bareli. The ministry identified a plot of 542 hectares (around
1,340 acres) of farmland belonging to the agriculture department for
the project.
In April 2007, the railways submitted the proposal for acquisition of
land in Beswara village. The government, sources said, fixed a price
of Rs 1.61 crore for the plot.
But in November, the government did a U-turn and said the land could
not be handed over as it was being used for “experimental farming”.
The agriculture department said farmland of the department cannot be
utilised for any purpose other than scientific use. “This is an agro-
lab for the agriculture department,” said an official.
Last month, Uttar Pradesh’s principal secretary, revenue, Balbinder
Kumar, issued an order dated May 30 (no. 994/AK-1/2008-5-1-19),
directing his department to register the plot as gram sabha land.
If any plot is marked as gram sabha land, it means it has been set
aside specifically to cater to the needs of a village or a cluster of
villages. The land can be used as a burial ground, community
playground or as a place for panchayat meetings. Often poor landless
villagers are allowed to settle on such land.
No one could, however, explain the hasty turnaround of the
government. Revenue department officials were tight-lipped. “It is
perhaps politics which we don’t want to go into,” said an
official. “The issue is very sensitive.”
All that Rae Bareli district magistrate Santosh Srivastava was
willing to say was that the agriculture department had refused to
hand over the land to the railways. “It was farmland and it could not
have been given to the railways legally,” argued a law officer.
Sources said the decision smacked of political stonewalling because
the revenue department had earlier allowed such land to be acquired
for special economic zones. Only the plot earmarked by the railways
was transferred as gram sabha land.
Railway sources said the government may have taken the decision to
get a bigger revenue. “We guess we will have to pay slightly more #65533;#65533;"
Rs 2.2 crore instead of Rs 1.61 crore #65533;#65533;" than what was fixed earlier,”
said a railway official.
District magistrate Srivastava has his own explanation. He says it
would be easier for him to hand over gram sabha land to the railways.
The legal department of Northern Railway said the plot could be
acquired with the help of the district magistrate, who is the sole
custodian of gram sabha land. He is authorised to allocate the land
for any public interest project. But the department fears the process
would involve inordinate delay and may be open to litigation.
Legal experts said the transfer might not be that easy as it risks
being challenged in court, as had happened with Bachchan.
S.K. Tripathi, an advocate who fought in the Bachchan case for the
Barabanki gram sabha, said: “The railways is going to set up an
industry. For an industrial project, gram sabha land cannot be taken
over like this. This land is meant for the welfare of the poor in
villages.”
Adds high court advocate Manoj Singh: “If the district magistrate
gives it away on lease for any purpose other than the benefit of the
gram sabha, it can be challenged in the court.”
The Congress, which is in a hurry to show that the project has made
significant progress before the 2009 general elections, is
jittery. “The state government is not expediting the process for
acquisition of land in Lalganj so that the project could come up on
time,” said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, chief of the state unit’s public
relations department.
The plant, one of the biggest such facilities in India, will have an
installed capacity to manufacture 1,000 state-of-the-art coaches per
annum with the latest systems at optimum costs.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2008 : 10:48:14
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Railway Coach Factory: Land survey over http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?
ID=IER20080617023012&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0
Tuesday June 17 2008 14:26 IST
PALAKKAD: The survey of the land intended for the coach factory in
Kanjikode was completed on Monday by a team of officials from the
Revenue Department.
The survey report would be submitted to the Rail India Technical and
Economic Services (RITES) early next week.
The land surveyed includes both barren land as well as paddyfields in
the Pudussery West village.
The proposed site is to the east of the Gramalakshmi Mudralayam and
to the north of the railway line near Umminikulam and extends up to
Valladi.
Around 600 acres to 700 acres of land in the Pudussery West village
and another 300 odd-acres would be acquired from the Pudussery
Central village.
“A ten-member team consisting of surveyors and chairmen completed the
topo sketch of the area on the basis of the existing survey numbers
by inspecting the site in the last two days,” said tahsildar T
Swaminathan.
A special wing will be constituted for acquiring land after the RITES
identified the required land. The inspection by the survey team was
also intended to exclude the forest areas.
The Kottamutti area which was earlier earmarked as a possible site
has now been found unsuitable due to the presence of rocky terrains.
Assistant Collector Biju said that a sketch will be prepared of the
1050 acres. Since most of it is swampy land there is no problem of
displacement, he added.
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irse
Forum Admin
India
553 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2008 : 00:06:07
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Railways and Kerala govt signs MoU
New Delhi June 28
The Ministry of Railways and Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Kerala has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a joint venture (JV) company for fabrication of bogie frames for passenger coaches and side/end walls for the wagons of the Indian Railways. The new JV will utilise the existing land and other assets of Steel Fabrication Unit (SFU) and Autocast located at Kerala.
Indian Railway shall hold 51 per cent equity in the JV and the remaining 49 per cent will be held by the Kerala Government. A joint working group (JWG) will be constituted in the next six months to prepare business plans and work out the modalities for the formation of the JV.
irse |
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irse
Forum Admin
India
553 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2008 : 23:18:38
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Reliance Infra, L&T, Jessops among six bidders for rail coach factory
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The winning consortium will form a joint venture with the Railways, with the latter owning 24 per cent.
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M. Ramesh
Chennai, July 31 Reliance Infrastructure, of the Anil Ambani group, in collaboration with China South Railway, is among the six bidders for a new Rs 1,400-crore Rail Coach Factory at Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.
The other bidders are: L&T-China North Railway, Texmaco-Kawasaki-Mitsubishi, Jessops-Siemens, CAF of Spain and Bombardier.
The winning consortium will form a joint venture with the Railways, with the latter owning 24 per cent. The Railways will buy at least 1,000 coaches a year for 10 years, valued around Rs 1,200 crore.
In another development, two US companies have made it to the shortlist for a project for production and supply of diesel locomotives of 4,500 HP and 6,000 HP — GE and Electro Motive Division (EMD was once a part of General Motors.)
This project too is estimated at around Rs 1,400 crore, with an assured offtake of 100 engines from the railways. Each engine will cost not less than Rs 8 crore, a senior official of the Railways told Business Line on Thursday.
BHEL not left out
Now, the question is whether the two public sector giants in this business — BHEL and BEML — have been left out of the race. While BEML could not be contacted, BHEL’s officials said that the company could have a stake in the winning consortium.
“We are talking to both the respondents to the RFQ for coaches as well as GE and EMD for partnering with them,” Mr B. P. Rao, Director (IS), BHEL, told Business Line.
He noted BHEL’s manufacturing strengths and local knowledge could not be ignored. BHEL has been in the business of diesel and electric locomotives manufacture for a number of years. As regards coaches, BHEL plant is producing a few against a ‘development order’ from the Railways. Once the products are approved, BHEL will put up a coach plant.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2008 : 11:17:52
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Railway team visits site at Kanjikode http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20080816103449&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0
Saturday August 16 2008 10:35 IST
PALAKKAD: The two members of the Railway Board who arrived here on Friday
visited the proposed site for the coach factory at Kanjikode.
Ex-officio secretary to the Government of India and member (mechanical) R K Rao
and Railway Board, New Delhi, advisor G N Asthana reached Kanjikode on Friday
evening. They walked along the area lying adjacent to the Gramalakshmi
Mudralayam in Pudussery West village and also visited the Kanjikode Railway
Station.
Later, speaking to mediapersons at Kanjikode, R K Rao said that the site was
congenial for the setting up the factory and they would recommend the same to
the Government. They were accompanied by the Rail India Technical and Economic
Services (RITES) general manager S P Malik and RITES advisor A K Saxena. These
two officials had visited Kanjikode on Thursday also. The nodal officer
appointed by the Kerala Government for the project, Usha Titus and District
Collector K S Sreenivas also accompanied the team.
"Now it is upto the RITES to prepare the project report on the coach factory and
for the Planning Commission to approve it. Ultimately, the cabinet has to clear
it and budgetary allocation provided. Subject to the required sanctions, the
project could become a reality within a few years", an official said. The
members of the Railway Board would have discussions with the officials of the
Railways here on Saturday.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2008 : 19:48:01
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PALAKKAD: Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said that the Rs. 5,000-crore railway coach factory proposed at Kanjikode in the district will become a reality soon, as land is being acquired and the work is progressing.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2008 : 19:56:13
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Rail coach factory: LDF plea for cooperation
PALAKKAD: A meeting of the district committee of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) has appealed to the land owners of Kanjikode to cooperate with the implementation of the railway coach factory project.
In a statement here on Thursday, the committee district convener V. Chamunni said the LDF government’s policy was to rehabilitate those people whose land would be acquired for projects. The rehabilitation projects at Vallarpadam and Vizhinjam were examples.
But some vested interests were trying to mislead the land owners at Kanjikode whose 900 acres of land was being acquired for the coach factory,it said. They were misleading the people to create hurdles to block this mega project that would ensure jobs to thousands of people
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 10/12/2008 : 07:17:33
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UP govt cancels land allotment for rail coach factory
PTI
Sunday, October 12, 2008 17:37 IST
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has cancelled the allotment of land for a rail coach factory in Raebareli, which was to be inaugurated by AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi on October 14, citing resentment among farmers and law and order problem as reasons.
"The state government had given 189.25 hectare of land for the factory in Raebareli on May 19 through a government order. The allotment was cancelled on Saturday on a report by the Raebareli district magistrate that there was resentment among farmers due to the move," Principal Secretary (Information) Vijay Shankar Pandey said here on Sunday.
He said the district magistrate has been asked to arrange alternate land for the project as soon as possible.
The district magistrate had, in a letter to the state government on October 10, informed that there was resentment among the farmers of the adjoining areas as they were expecting allotment of the land in their favour, Pandey said.
"There are possibilities of self-immolation type incidents and law and order problem in the area due to which the Revenue department cancelled the allotment of the said land to Rail coach factory," Pandey said.
He, however, said he was not aware about who were protesting against the project, adding the decision was taken on the district magistrate's report.
The district magistrate, in his letter, also said the land was with the agriculture department of the Centre for the past 30 years and was not utilised.
She also demanded that the state government should act in a similar manner and cancel land acquiring in Badalpur and for Ganga expressway, where farmers were protesting too.
Pandey said the villagers were apprehensive as bout 700 acres of land is needed for the project and they fear that their land may be acquired for the project".
He said the land would now be alloted to the gram sabha, adding the money deposited by the Railways would be refunded as soon as possible.
He further said directives had been issued to find alternative land for the project so that factory could be established.
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Edited by - S.ravi on 10/12/2008 07:20:49 |
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 10/13/2008 : 19:35:38
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HC stays U.P. decision on land allotment
Lucknow: A day after the Mayawati government cancelled land for a railway project in Sonia Gandhi’s constituency Rae Bareli, the Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered a stay on the decision.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2008 : 00:56:10
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Railways acquire more land in Rae Bareli
Fresh Gazette notification published
353 hectares of private and gram samaj land acquired
Land can be acquired by Centre for special projects
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LUCKNOW: The Union Railway Ministry has taken a step further for setting up the proposed rail coach factory at Lalganj in Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh by acquiring an additional 353 hectares of private and gram samaj land – both agricultural and non- agricultural -- for the purpose.
The final Gazette notification, dated September 25 this year, pertaining to the acquisition of land under sub-section (1) of Section 20E of the Railways Act, 1989 (24 of 1989) was published in newspapers here on Thursday. It was issued by Northern Railway.
The 189.25 hectares of land on which the Mayawati Government and the Railways are currently locked in a dispute has not been touched. The matter is sub judice and scheduled to come up for hearing before the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court this coming Wednesday.
Under the Railways Act, land can be acquired by the Central Government for execution, maintenance, management and operation of special projects, in this case “Special Railway Projects Rae Bareli for setting up of new rail coach factory in the district of Rae Bareli in the State of Uttar Pradesh”.
The 353 hectares of land belong to 1,490 farmers of the area.
The first notification pertaining to acquisition of land was published in the newspapers on May 8 and 9 this year and objections were invited by the Railways from farmers whose land was to be acquired. One hundred and ninety-nine objections were received by the Railways, all of which were disposed of by the competent Railway authorities. This was followed by the second and final notification, dated September 25, published in Thursday’s newspapers.
Compensation to be paid to the farmers is reportedly being worked out and the payment would be made soon.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 04:04:16
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Mayawati agrees to provide land for Rae Bareli railway project
Saturday, 18 October , 2008, 18:43
Last Updated: Saturday, 18 October , 2008, 22:49
Lucknow: In a 180-degree turn within a week, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday restored 189 hectares of state-owned land in Rae Bareli, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's constituency, for building India's third rail coach factory.
"The cancellation had to be done simply because the allotment had been made without the statutory approval of the cabinet," Mayawati told a press conference.
"However, the issue was taken up by the state cabinet today and we have formally conceded the central government's proposal to give the land at the market rate on a 90-year lease."
She had cancelled that land allotment last Saturday, though Gandhi was to visit the site in Lalganj and attend a ground-breaking ceremony for the project Tuesday.
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Edited by - S.ravi on 10/19/2008 04:07:13 |
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2008 : 19:44:27
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Responding to a question on the progress of railway coach manufacturing unit to come up at Kerala, the Union Minister said land had been identified at Palakad and a feasibility survey has been taken up.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2008 : 18:25:03
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Delay in land acquisition for railway coach factory
PALAKKAD: The delay in acquiring land for the proposed rail coach factory at Kanjikode is raising concern on getting the sanction from the Central government for the project.
Though the State government had identified 900 acres, the Revenue Department had not yet started land acquisition proceedings.
The Railways had asked the government to hand over the land immediately so that the other formalities regarding the sanction could be taken up with the Planning Board and the Union government.
No survey team
But the Revenue Department is yet to appoint a team to survey the proposed land. The district administration has also failed to assuage the fears of landowners and house owners whose land and houses will be acquired.
Representatives of the land and house owners met the District Collector on Monday seeking exemption of thickly populated areas from land acquisition as enough vacant land is available in the areas contiguous to the proposed land.
They said that the District Collector failed to give any assurance on their demands, including market price for the land. Land Owners Action Committee Chairman Vilayodi Venugopal said that an agitation would be launched if the government failed to provide adequate compensation for landowners.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 12/07/2008 : 18:35:12
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Coach factory: Railways’ word awaited on land acquisition
PALAKKAD: Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran has said that the State government is waiting for a requisition from the Railways to start acquiring 900 acres of land needed for the proposed railway coach factory at Kanjikode, near here.
The Minister told The Hindu here on Sunday that “this is a prestigious project for the State and the government has constituted a special survey team to survey immediately the land to be acquired under the fast-track system.”
He said the Railways should identify the land needed with survey numbers and allot the compensation to be paid to the landowners. The State government was waiting for a communication from the Railways. There was no delay on its part in acquiring land.
He said a meeting of the revenue authorities, representatives of local bodies and political parties and the landowners would be held here next week to settle the issues of displacement of people and compensation.
There have been allegations of delay in starting the acquisition.
Action councils in the name of the landowners have come up and are threatening an agitation against the acquisition.
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S.ravi
Advanced Member
India
4205 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2008 : 21:17:14
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Lalu to lay foundation for coach factory in Kerala http://news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=812190733&cat=&n_date=20081219
New Delhi | Friday, Dec 19 2008
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad will lay the foundation stone for the proposed
railway coach factory in Kanchikode in Kerala early next month, Chief Minister V
S Achuthanandan said here today.
He told mediapersons after his meeting with Mr Prasad that the exact date would
be communicated later.
Mr Achuthanandan said Mr Prasad expressed total satisfaction over the pace of
acquisition of land by the state for the coach factory.
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Rail coach factory-pallakkad & Raibareily
