JOIN USA Rs 1,460 crore rail coach factory, on a 1,100 acre plot, will come up in Kolar district, for which the State government will bear half the project cost besides providing land free.
The State government and the Indian Railways, on Thursday, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Railway Board , Mechanical Engineering Projects Advisor S K Swaminathan signing on behalf of Railways and Department of Infrastructure Development Principal Secretary Vandita Sharma on behalf of the State government. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Minister of State for Railways K Surya Prakash Reddy, Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises K H Muniyappa, Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee, Railway Board member Alok Johri and Bangalore Divisional Railway Manager Anil Kumar Agarwal were present.
Muniyappa said the factory will come up in Srinivasapura taluk somewhere between Srinivasapura and Mulbagal in Kolar district due to the initiatives taken by Union Minister for Railways Mallikarjun Kharge. He said the time frame has not been set but it would start very soon. “This will be the fourth rail coach factory after Chennai, Kapurthala and Rae Bareli,” he added.
Of the 1,100 acre land, the State government has 550 acre of land and will acquire the remaining 550 acre. The unit will have capacity to produce 500 coaches annually in the initial years and stepped up to another Rs 500 coaches later.
“It will have a R&D unit, providing jobs to 5,000 people. The auxiliary units that would come up around the factory would generate another 5,000 jobs. It will also help in tackling water crisis in the region where the water table has gone down as low as 1,400 feet,” Muniappa claimed.
State to share 50 pc cost
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the ball was now in the Centre’s court to come forward and implement railway projects on a cost-sharing basis with the State government.
In his reply to a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address in the Legislative Assembly, Siddaramaiah said the State government had already earmarked its share of grants for 13 projects including Hassan to Bangalore and Ramanagara to Mysore.
The State will share 50 per cent of the total project cost. The State would be giving free land of 1,118 acre for the Kolar Railway Coach Factory. The State will provide free land for Yadgir project too.