Lok Sabha Question No. 4228 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Delay in Land Acquisition for Angamaly-Erumely Rail Line
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Adv K. Francis George

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4228

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026

## DELAY IN LAND ACQUISITION FOR ANGAMALY-ERUMELY RAIL LINE

## 4228. ADV K. FRANCIS GEORGE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  delays  in  railway  infrastructure projects due to land acquisition issues and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  any  step  has  been  taken  to  expedite  the  land  acquisition proceedings for the Angamaly-Erumely rail line proposed in Kerala and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether any review has been conducted regarding administrative and financial  bottlenecks  affecting  land  acquisition  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (d) the details of the steps taken in coordination with State Governments to expedite land acquisition and project implementation; and
- (e)  the  details  of  the  measures  proposed  to  ensure  timely  completion  of railway infrastructure projects and prevent cost overruns?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (e):    Angamali  -  Sabarimala    via    Erumeli    new    line    project    was sanctioned  in  1997-98.  Work  on  Angamali-Kaladi  (7  Km)  and  long  lead works  on  Kaladi-Perumbavoor  (10  Km)  was  taken  up.  However,  further works on this project could not be taken forward due to protests by people against  land  acquisition  and  fixing  of  alignment  of  the  line,  court  cases filed  against  the  project  and  inadequate  support from the  Government of Keralam. Therefore, the project could not proceed ahead.

The estimated cost of the Angamali - Sabarimala  via  Erumeli  new  line project  was  updated  at  ₹3,801  crore  and  submitted  to  Government  of Keralam for the acceptance of the estimate and willingness to share cost of the project.

In August 2024, the Government of Keralam communicated their conditional consent. Government of Keralam was requested by Railway to submit unconditional consent for sharing the cost.

Then the Minister of Railways requested the Chief Minister of Keralam to acquire land using their share of 50% of the cost of the project. Once land acquisition by State starts, work can proceed further.

Now, on the request of Govt. of India, the  Govt. of Keralam has initiated land  acquisition  proceedings  and  the  Angamali  -  Sabarimala  new  line project  has  moved  forward.  Ministry  of  Railways  is  following  up  the  land acquisition process with Govt. of Keralam.

## Keralam:-

Budget allocation  in  the  recent  years  has  increased  significantly.  Budget allocation  for  infrastructure    projects    and    safety    works,    falling fully/partly    in    the    State    of    Keralam  including  Angamali  -  Sabarimala project is as under:-

| Period   | Outlay                           |
|----------|----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 372 crore/year                 |
| 2025-26  | ₹3,042 crore (more than 8 times) |

## Project sanctioned:-

As  on  01.04.2025,  06  projects  (02  new  line  and  04  doubling)  of  266  km length, costing ₹9,415 crore falling fully/partly in Keralam are sanctioned. The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of projects | Total Length   | Length Commissioned   | Balance to complete   | Expenditure upto March 2025 (₹in Crore)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|----------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| New line                |                02 | 146 km         | -                     | 146 km                | 309                                       |
| Doubling /multitracking |                04 | 120 km         | 26 km                 | 94 km                 | 2,941                                     |
| Total                   |                06 | 266 km         | 26 km                 | 240 km                | 3,250                                     |

Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

Recently Completed Projects:-

Details  of  some  of  the  recently  completed  projects  falling  fully/partly  in Keralam are as under :

|   S. N | Project                                                                   | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|--------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|      1 | Dindigul-Pollachi-Palghat & Pollachi-Coimbatore gauge conversion (217 km) | 1,360                |
|      2 | Quilon-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km)                  | 1,122                |
|      3 | Mulanturutti-Kuruppantara doubling (24 km)                                | 303                  |
|      4 | Chenganur-Chingavanam doubling (27 km)                                    | 436                  |
|      5 | Ambalapuzha-Haripad doubling (18 km)                                      | 346                  |
|      6 | Kurruppanthara-Chingavanam doubling (27 km)                               | 749                  |

## Ongoing Projects:-

Some of the projects falling fully/partly in Keralam which have been taken up are as under:

|   S No. | Project                                   | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|---------|-------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|       1 | Tirunnavaya -Guruvayur new line (35 Km)   | 138                  |
|       2 | Angamali-Sabarimala new line (111 km)     | 3,801                |
|       3 | Ernakulam-Kumbalam doubling (8 km)        | 595                  |
|       4 | Kumbalam-Thuravur Patch doubling (16 km)  | 803                  |
|       5 | Trivandrum- Kanyakumari doubling (87 km)  | 3,786                |
|       6 | Shoranur - Vallathol doubling (10 km)     | 367                  |
|       7 | Palakkad Town to Parli Bypass Line (2 Km) | 164                  |
|       8 | Alappuzha-Ambalapuzha doubling (13 Km)    | 324                  |
|       9 | Turavur - Mararikulam doubling (21 Km)    | 451                  |

Execution  of  important  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Keralam are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in the State of Keralam is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Keralam   | 476 ha       |
|-----------------------------------------------|--------------|
| Land Acquired                                 | 65 ha (14%)  |
| Balance Land to be acquired                   | 411 ha (86%) |

Railway had deposited ₹1,975 crore for land acquisition to Government of Keralam.  Support of the Government of Keralam is needed to expedite the land acquisition. For  instance, details of  some  major  projects  which  are

...5/-

## delayed due to land acquisition are as under:-

|   SN | Name of the project                        |   Total land required (in Ha) |   Land acquired (in Ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in Ha) |
|------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|    1 | Angamali - Sabarimala new line (111 km)    |                           416 |                      24 |                                   392 |
|    2 | Ernakulam - Kumbalam Patch doubling (8 km) |                             4 |                       3 |                                     1 |
|    3 | Kumbalam - Turavur Patch doubling (16 km)  |                            10 |                       9 |                                     1 |
|    4 | Shoranur - Vallathol doubling (10 km)      |                             5 |                       0 |                                     5 |

Government  of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however  success depends upon the support of Government of Keralam.

Sanction  of  any  railway  project  depends  upon  many  parameters/factors which include the following:

-  Anticipated traffic projections and 5emunerativeness of the proposed route
-  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project
-  Connection of missing links and providing additional route
-  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines
-  Demands  raised  by  State Governments/Central  Ministries/Public representatives
-  Railway's own operational requirements
-  Socio-economic considerations
-  Overall availability of funds

## Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:

-  Land acquisition by State Government
-  Forest clearance
-  Shifting of infringing utilities
-  Statutory clearances from various authorities
-  Geological and topographical conditions of area
-  Law and order situation in the area of project site
-  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc.

All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s.

## Road Over Bridges (ROBs)/Road Under Bridges (RUBs):

As on 01.02.2026, 138 Road Over Bridges/Road Under Bridges (ROBs/RUBs) across railways tracks have been sanctioned at a cost of ₹ 4,835 crore in the  State  of  Keralam  which  are  at  various  stages  of  planning  and execution.

A total of 106 Nos. ROBs/RUBs are delayed on account of the State Govt.

## The details are as under:

|   S.No. | Reason                                       |   ROBs/RUBs (in No.) |
|---------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|       1 | Delay in Land Acquisition by State Govt.     |                   38 |
|       2 | Finalization of Alignment by State Govt.     |                   63 |
|       3 | Law & order/ Public Protest/Court cases etc. |                    2 |
|       4 | Agency yet to be fixed                       |                    3 |

Completion  &  commissioning  of  ROBs/RUBs  works  depends  on  various factors  like  cooperation  of   State  Governments  in  giving   consent  for closure of LC, fixing of approach alignment, approval of General Arrangement  Drawing  (GAD),  land  acquisition,  removal  of  encroachment, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities,   law  and  order  situation  in  the  area  of  project  /  work  sites, duration of working season in a year for the particular project / area  due to climatic conditions etc.  All these factors affect the completion time of the projects / works.

Railways  have  taken  following  measures  to  expedite  the  progress  of ROB/RUB works:

- (i) Joint survey with concerned State Govt./Road Owning Authority is done before  finalizing    the  General  Arrangement  Drawing (GAD)  to  ensure smooth execution.
- (ii) Periodic meetings of Railway & State Government officials are done to resolve various issues related to ROB/RUB works.
- (iii) Standardization of superstructure drawings for various combinations of span,  skewness  and  width  of  road  on  Railway  portion  has  been  done  to avoid delays during the design approval. This has been issued in the form of compendium, which can be directly adopted for Road Over Bridge across Railway lines for expeditious planning.

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