Thiruvananthapuram:  An ambitious high-speed rail line linking the northern and southern parts of Kerala is in the works, with the state government already identiftying the contours of the proposed route. Even as the challenging land acquisition process is being planned, the NITI Aayog has flagged its estimated cost as much lower than what it could be in real terms.   

The national policy think tank has stated that the land acquisition cost is expected to be Rs 9,000 crore more than what has been outlined in the project report of the Semi-High Speed Rail Corridor also known as the Silver Line. 

The NITI Aayog came to the conclusion after examining the land price in 50 villages through which the high-speed rail corridor will pass. In its report submitted to the Kerala government, the NITI Aayog has pointed out that doubts were raised about the feasibility of the project because of the underestimation of cost for land acquisition shown in the project outline.

The Detailed Poject Report was prepared by French company Systra at a cost of Rs 12 crore. 

The calculation 

The central body calculated that the expenditure for property acquisition would come to at least Rs 22,000 crore after examining the price of land in areas through which the high-speed rail line will pass. It is aware of the likely expenditure on land acquisition in Kerala as this was estimated earlier for the widening of national highway in Kerala.

A total of 1,383 hectares of land has to be acquired for the high-speed rail line of which 1,198 hectares is private land and the rest is in government’s possession. As per the Detailed Project Report, the total cost shown for acquiring the land is Rs 13,000 core which comes to about 20 percent of the total project cost of Rs 64,000 crore. The expenditure has been calculated as Rs 6,100 crore for acquiring the land and Rs 4,460 as compensation for demolition of 9,000 houses and establishments besides Rs 1,730 crore for the rehabilitation. 

The Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) had promised to pay a compensation which is two to four times more than the market value of the land to be acquired.  Double compensation was promised to be paid for houses, buildings and trees after calculating their price. The decision was to carry out the process as per the Land Acquisition Rules of 2013.

It has to be seen how the Kerala government will respond to NITI Aayog's findings. The state government's plan is to complete the land acquisition proceedings as it expects the central government’s clearance for the project to get delayed.