Trivandrum-Kasargod High-Speed Rail Corridor| Proposed

[mohammedirshad06]

As long as no other Indian or Foreign Company, have proved similar to DMRC, in keeping its time schedules and work quality at least disturbances to society, surely they can be really proud or even on head sometimes....

I am basically against one attitude of E.Sreedharan. The public lobbying for DMRC, which is NOT something good. But anyway, as long as they prove and others donot compete similar, they surely have the cake......

[Cosmicbliss]

Originally Posted by mohammedirshad06

As long as no other Indian or Foreign Company, have proved similar to DMRC, in keeping its time schedules and work quality at least disturbances to society, surely they can be really proud or even on head sometimes....

I am basically against one attitude of E.Sreedharan. The public lobbying for DMRC, which is something good. But anyway, as long as they prove and others donot compete similar, they surely have the cake......

Well said Mohammed. In our country, there is a trend of trying to ridicule anyone who has achieved something because he/she may not be perfect. Let's appreciate DMRC's track record of doing work on time/budget. However, they are not gods either.

[raghussc]

After all DMRC is a govt entity. If not today, it'll become a 'real' govt entity in future ... As DMRC grows bigger and bigger, politicians will think of creating a ministry for metro rail under which DMRC will fall under With the politicians' interference, scams will follow

[mohammedirshad06]

Originally Posted by raghussc

After all DMRC is a govt entity. If not today, it'll become a 'real' govt entity in future ... As DMRC grows bigger and bigger, politicians will think of creating a ministry for metro rail under which DMRC will fall under With the politicians' interference, scams will follow

Well, can't say about future, as in past too we had many shining Govt ventures like Air India etc, all in ruins now....

The current independence of DMRC, is because of E.Sreedharan's Ganga Attitude.... But can't predict how in future it will work out....

But there are many ventures of Govt doing expectionally well due to its sound organizational values. Say ONGC or BHEL or to some extend BSNL etc.... DMRC can definitely do wonders. But what I feel is that, it should become more competitive player and must participate in bids like any other professional consultancies/engineering firms.... It should not mere remain as Govt's choice within India. Rather must even try out foreign ventures too......

[chekuthan]

Kerala seeks investment from UAE

Abu Dhabi: The south Indian state of Kerala is trying to cash in on the reputation of its people, who constitute the largest Indian community in the UAE, to seek foreign investments for its ambitious megaprojects which include a 650km high-speed railway, an official of the state delegation visiting the UAE said on Sunday.
Highly educated and skilled Keralites are everywhere in the world, including the UAE, and have acquired a very good reputation, according to V. Somasundaran, Additional Chief Secretary in charge of Industries and Commerce in the Kerala state government.
A prominent Indian businessman said when India’s economy was opened to foreign investments in 1991, they were advised to take their Emirati business partners to India to look into opportunities there.
“They said it would be beneficial to both Indians and Emiratis to strengthen their existing relationships,” said Mohan Jashanmal, the chairman of Indian Business and Professional Group, Abu Dhabi.
Article continues below

The group hosted an event on Sunday evening for two senior Kerala government officials who presented the projects to be unveiled in ‘Emerging Kerala’. It is a global networking programme designed to bring together people from all walks of life who are interested in investing in the state.
The tender for the proposed projects will be ready at the ‘Emerging Kerala’, said Alkesh Sharma, Managing Director of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation. The event will be held at Kochi, the city known as the commercial and industrial hub of the state, from September 12 to 14.
The Kerala government has identified 26 thrust sectors to be presented before the investors. Of these 10 will be core sectors.
Among the 10 core projects, the high speed railway will be the first of its kind in South Asia, they said.
The corridor linking Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the state in the southernmost part, to Kasargode, the northernmost city, will be independent of the existing 1,148km railway lines on 13 routes in the state, they said.
The first phase of the project connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, will cost Rs45 billion (Dh2.97 billion).
Kochi Metro, a world-class Light Mass Rapid Transit System in Kochi City, of Rs450 billion and monorail projects at Thiruvananthapuram (of Rs34.08 billion and Kozhikode (of Rs15 billion) are also part of the ambitious infrastructure projects.
The officials said the government has set up an online single-window clearance system which facilitates the processing of licences and approvals can be secured within 90 days for investors.
When an Abu Dhabi government official inquired whether the 90-day duration is a long time to get all clearances, Somasundaram said: “It is the maximum time. In most of the cases, the clearance will be given in a shorter time.”
He explained that some projects like that of gas infrastructure need environmental impact assessment and related approvals which require a little time.

[bharatiya]

Originally Posted by chekuthan

Kerala seeks investment from UAE

The first phase of the project connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, will cost Rs45 billion (Dh2.97 billion).

45 billion rupees for the first phase (approx 200 kilometers) comes out to about 22 crores/km. Do they mean 450 billion?

[PPJ]

Originally Posted by bharatiya

45 billion rupees for the first phase (approx 200 kilometers) comes out to about 22 crores/km. Do they mean 450 billion?

I think all the figures given in the report is incorrect.

[Malayaali]

It's Rs 45,0000 crore, so 450 billion rupees.

[raghussc]

So, 45,000 crores (not 45,0000 as stated above) to be spent for the benefit of 3.3 crores of population. That turns out to be Rs. 13,600 per person. That's about 1/3rd of per capita income.

At this rate, for 100 crore population of India might need 30 times the amount Kerala is planning to spend on HSR

[naveen_blr]

Originally Posted by raghussc

So, 45,000 crores (not 45,0000 as stated above) to be spent for the benefit of 3.3 crores of population. That turns out to be Rs. 13,600 per person. That's about 1/3rd of per capita income.

At this rate, for 100 crore population of India might need 30 times the amount Kerala is planning to spend on HSR

Wont the cost of tickets be higher than airfare in this case?
I imagine Europe in Kerala :-)

[Malayaali]

Originally Posted by raghussc

So, 45,000 crores (not 45,0000 as stated above) to be spent for the benefit of 3.3 crores of population. That turns out to be Rs. 13,600 per person. That's about 1/3rd of per capita income.

Rs 13,600 per person not in a year. Divide it by another 10 or 20.

[raghussc]

Agree ..

For comparison, California HSR is expected to cost $68 billion to serve the state with population of 38 million, that comes to about $1790 per person. Per capita income of California is about $44,000. So HSR costs about 4% of per capita income. Yet there is lot of resistance from both the politicians as well as financial experts.

For Kerala HSR, the cost per person vs. the per-capita is 27%.

No complaint here ... just putting things in perspective. I'm sure there are many pros of Kerala HSR vs. CA HSR, and am sure we visited the pros many times in the past.

[Malayaali]

Assume Rs 45,000 crores.

44% financed by JICA.
56% is divided between state and centre.
So in effect 28% by the GoK.

Now let's do the calcs again,

Rs 12,600 crore by the state, say for a period of 5 years.
Rs 3,818 per person for 5 years.
Rs 763 per person per year.

No need to compare with US. They are a declining economy while India is an emerging economy. There would have been no issues if US proposed this 10 years ago.

[raghussc]

Be it state or center of JICA, it's still money, right ? Why do you want to discount all of that and just stick to Kerala state govt contribution ... don't think I said anything about just the Kerala govt. I was talking about the project cost as a whole.

FYI, India too is on a decline this year, but that doesn't mean it'll not emerge again. So is US .. but this if off-topic that I'd rather not discuss. Take inflation in to consideration, then India's growth is not really a big one !

[mohammedirshad06]

Originally Posted by raghussc

So, 45,000 crores (not 45,0000 as stated above) to be spent for the benefit of 3.3 crores of population. That turns out to be Rs. 13,600 per person. That's about 1/3rd of per capita income.

At this rate, for 100 crore population of India might need 30 times the amount Kerala is planning to spend on HSR

Well, agree that the primary users of Kerala HSR would be people in the state. But a state, aspiring for huge industrialization, should count in increase of its population in next 10 years.... Kerala is not any Karnataka or AP, where all developments are concentrated in one city. Already 4 or 5 cities of Kerala have entered into the list of next boom cities of India. More are on its way.... Naturally the primary focus should be on inter-city transportation.

Added to it, the state is on its path of becoming India's most important tourist destination. Every-year, the number of tourists are increasing and Kerala already achieved all around destination status. This means, we need to count in these people too....

In short, the potential users of service is much more than state population.....

Originally Posted by naveen_blr

Wont the cost of tickets be higher than airfare in this case?
I imagine Europe in Kerala :-)

Its already declared that the cost of the ticket, would be 1.5 times more than Janshatabdi A/C Coach fares. You can count yourself, what would be cost from Kochi to Trivandrum, with current JS fares at Rs 300....

Hope, there is no need for being Europe....

[bharatiya]

Originally Posted by Malayaali

Assume Rs 45,000 crores.

44% financed by JICA.
56% is divided between state and centre.
So in effect 28% by the GoK.

Now let's do the calcs again,

Rs 12,600 crore by the state, say for a period of 5 years.
Rs 3,818 per person for 5 years.
Rs 763 per person per year.

No need to compare with US. They are a declining economy while India is an emerging economy. There would have been no issues if US proposed this 10 years ago.

Also have to take into account that 45k crores is only for Phase I, till Kochi. So it's not technically benefitting 3.3 crore people right off the bat.

[mohammedirshad06]

Originally Posted by bharatiya

Also have to take into account that 45k crores is only for Phase I, till Kochi. So it's not technically benefitting 3.3 crore people right off the bat.

I am sure, the project consultants DMRC would be better informed and wise than most of us.... We are living in a country, which sticks to its orthodox views.... Unless somewhere and sometime, we get ready to change, nothing is going to happen. If Kerala Govt is confident along with Central Govt, I don't foresee any major issue, given the fact there are enough people in the state with good pockets and looking for a better option to travel....

[raghussc]

JICA funding seems to be delayed by 2 yrs for Kochi metro per TOI article ... gotta see how and when JICA will make a statement on funding the Kerala HSR.

[mohammedirshad06]

Originally Posted by raghussc

JICA funding seems to be delayed by 2 yrs for Kochi metro per TOI article ... gotta see how and when JICA will make a statement on funding the Kerala HSR.

Don't take TOI's article even on a prima facia.... They are making fake news regarding Kochi, for past few months. It seems, someone in the editorial of TOI have strong grudge against Kochi... The recent example of TOI's fake news regarding crime stats is a best example.

If one observes past news reports, the TOI reports reintreprets every report, to present a sitution in very negative report.

JICA already have informed that loan process will take a year, since date of approval. E.Sreedharan has clarified in his press meet several times back, they are starting the work, with Central and State funds, especially when current works are mostly preparatory in nature, not actual works..... The same matter TOI reporters reintrepretted in their fashion. It was state who reduced JICA's stake, as they are looking their investment source. Even for Kerala HSR, JICA was ready to finance more than 60%, but state asked only 44% stake. But TOI reports as a matter done by JICA....

Afterall, its nothing but TOIlet paper.....

[gts428]

These stupid politicians have no idea about prioritizing. Who came up with the idea to build an almost parallel line to the existing IR line in a densely populated state like Kerala? The cost to build and more importantly, to maintain this would be much more than the projected $2.1 billion and prohibitive at the current state of affairs.For much less, they could add extra (even dedicated) lines and upgrade the IR system to handle trains that can do normal speeds by world standards (100-150mph -160-220 km/h).With that, even at the lower speeds and a lot more stops, it will only take 3-4 hrs to travel the entire length of this tiny state. What Kerala badly needs is decent roads. All the land acquisition efforts (always difficult in places like Kerala) should go to build an access controlled expressway through the entire length of Kerala. That will benefit the entire state (access for a lot more towns) and its economy (goods movement,lower fuel consumption).