Cabinet nod for JV with Railways.

The Cabinet has approved the joint venture (JV) company to be set up by the Railways and the State for executing commercially viable railway projects in Kerala on a cost-sharing basis.

The Cabinet, which met on Wednesday under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, gave its nod for the much-delayed formation of the joint venture company, official sources told The Hindu .

The nod comes in the wake of the clearance given by the Departments of Law and Finance to the shareholders’ agreement forwarded initially to the Transport Department by the Railways.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up the company for undertaking project development, financing and implementing railway projects in the State on a cost-sharing-basis was signed in New Delhi on January 27.

As per the MoU, the State will have 51 per cent equity share and the Railways 49 per cent in the company, which will have an authorised share capital of Rs.200 crore with an initial paid up capital of Rs.100 crore.

With the Cabinet nod, decks have been cleared for the Transport Department to sign the agreement with the Railways later this month in New Delhi for setting up the joint venture company, sources said.

The Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association need to be formed and filed with the Registrar of Companies to form the company have also been cleared by the Cabinet.

Commercially viable railway projects will be identified jointly and entrusted to the SPV for execution on a fast-track basis.

As many as eight projects, including the Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS), rail coach factory at Kanjikode, and the Sabari Rail have been identified for execution through cost-sharing.

The Rs.3,330.78-crore RRTS, proposed from Thiruvananthapuram to Chengannur with an upgrade of the existing rail network and Sabari railway line, tops the list.


THE HINDU