Amid the financial crisis, the government continues to focus on infrastructure development with the Budget for 2024-25 earmarking substantial investment for road, rail, airport ,and port development projects, underscoring its commitment to strengthening the sectors considered the backbone of economic growth.
The government places emphasis on introducing high-speed rail travel in the State in tune with the recent shift in policy after informal consultations with technocrat E. Sreedharan.
Conceding that Railways cannot keep pace with Kerala’s growth, the Minister said along with completing track renovation, curve correction, and doubling, the government will continue its efforts to implement the proposed K-Rail project for high-speed rail travel. Consultations are ongoing with the Centre in this regard, he said.
This was a major shift from the semi-high-speed rail project the State had been pushing for. However, Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited officials maintained that no official decision had been taken to switch to high-speed rail.
An amount of ₹300.73 crore is earmarked in the Budget for time-bound execution of major projects such as Vizhinjam Port, Cochin Metro and Kannur airport. As a follow-up to three major projects — a new dry dock at Cochin Shipyard, international ship repair facility, and LPG import terminal at Puthuvypin with a total outlay of ₹4,000 crore — inaugurated by the Prime Minister in early January at Kochi — the State government announced that an amount of ₹3,000 crore will be expended for various projects within three years in Kochi.
Similar to Vizhinjam port, the new projects in Kochi have the potential for backward and forward linkages, and efforts are to be made to capitalise on these opportunities, said the Minister.
An amount of ₹500 crore has been set aside for the 2024-25 fiscal. This amount is in addition to the amount earmarked for major infrastructure development projects. In addition to this, it is expected that Kerala can avail ₹5,000 crore of eligible assistance under the special loan for capital investment announced by the Centre. This amount is essential for Kerala’s infrastructure development.
Along with the widening of National Highway-66, and the construction of other national highways, coastal highways, and hill highways, which are fast progressing, a greenfield highway from Thiruvananthapuram to Angamaly parallel to MC Road is also under the consideration of the National Highways Authority of India, the Minister said.
Further, the government will go ahead with the Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode metro projects. In the case of the Thiruvananthapuram metro, it is expected that the necessary approvals from the Centre will be obtained soon. Money will be allocated from the funds earmarked for major infrastructure projects towards the cost of these projects.
