PALAKKAD: The Union Cabinet clearance to set up the coach factory at Kanjikode under public-private- participation mode goes one more step nearer for the coaches to roll out from Kerala.“The UDF Government led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who had constantly followed up the proposal for the coach factory in Kanjikode should seek the date of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi to lay the foundation stone. Adequate provision should be made in the budget for the factory,” Kanjikode Industries Forum and Steel Manufacturers Association former president Pankajakshan said.Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan, in whose constituency the factory will be coming up, had also been proactive in acquiring the land and handing it over to the Railways. The coach factory will be set up over a sprawling area of 239 acres of land at an outlay of `576 crore.Initially, there was the proposal to build aluminium coaches and later stainless steel coaches, says a statement from New Delhi.“We do not have any confirmation on the date of the foundation stone laying ceremony for the coach factory,” Palakkad Divisional Railway Manager Piyush Agarwal said. “It was in 1982 when I was MP for the first time that I had raised the issue for a coach factory for Palakkad and got an assurance. But, later, after the incidents at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Congress high command expressed the view that the coach factory should be given to Punjab. Moreover, at that time there was a coach factory at Perumbur in Tamil Nadu. So the factory was likely to be allotted to North India. Now, the twin objectives of the Congress have been achieved. Punjab is peaceful and very much part of the national mainstream and Palakkad has been allotted the promised coach factory which brings satisfaction to me,” three time former Congress MP from Palakkad V S Vijayaraghavan said.“The next step will be to float global tenders inviting request for qualification (RFQ) in the joint venture for the new coach factory to be established under public private participation (PPP). Since the Railways is cash strapped, the Planning Commission has directed that all future development projects should be through the PPP route. Only the Cabinet could make exceptions to the rule of the Planning Commission which is not likely. Once a partner is roped in, the coaches will roll out within two years,” a senior official with the Railway Ministry from New Delhi said.“The factory will provide jobs to around 1,000 people directly and provide opportunities to set up ancillary units. It could change the face of Palakkad district along with the second phase of expansion of BEML which produces railway coach shells and tetra trucks for the Defence Ministry in Palakkad,” Pudussery panchayat president K N Sreedevi said. “The proximity to the Coimbatore airport, abundant water from the Malampuzha dam and a peaceful industrial climate makes Kanjikode an investors destination. People should support the project and make it a success by burying all political differences,” Pankajakshan said. Railways sources said that the global players who come as joint partners could bring in the latest technical know how along with capital which could help in the production and export of coaches and mass rapid transit systems.
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